Wanton Wontons - take two

As awesome as the mini samosas were, I think I like this recipe better.

Mostly because it's a hearty soup and hell if Charlotte hasn't been completely laminated by snow and ice this week - also, because it's relatively healthy and has a full range of vitamins in every bowl - but mostly, because it contains cabbage, and I have the Cabbagewinter gene - when it's cold out, I want to eat copious amounts of it.

But where the samosas were cute - this stew most def is not. Erk commented while finishing his bowl - "Dude, it looks like we're eating tiny brains. Gross."

The man still managed to power through and inhale his rather large serving, so it can't look too bad, eh?

A couple of short comments on prep - because I really want you guys to give this one a whirl, but there were several frustrating moments for me:

Wonton construction: like the samosas, we're going to fold these over corner to corner, but then take the extra step of folding the two corners of the long edge together, making a nurse's hat. This makes these denser, more dumpling-like, instead of floppy-ravioli-ish.

Burp the wontons of air as you construct, or you'll end up with little soup mines that'll explode as the air inside them heats. Yowza.

Make these RIGHT BEFORE cooking them. Wonton wrappers are super sticky. They don't do well on a plate in the fridge overnight.

Cook them all at once in the pot with the soup, stirring gently but constantly to keep them separated. They might clump up a little bit with the cabbage et all, but trust me, if you cook them by themselves in boiling water, they're like little magnets, and find each other, clump up, forming one large mass of dumpling. Delish, but individual pockets of yum are waaay more fun. And easier to serve.

Ok. Hope I didn't scare anyone with that description of cooking fail. There's lots of it in my kitchen ;) Also, you guys know by now there's no real sausage in this recipe - but you could totally use pork to great success if that's how you roll!

Sausage Wontons with Cabbage, Carrot, and Pea Stew

20 wonton wrappers
10 ozs vegetarian sausage, cooked, minced

2 tablespoons butter
1 small head cabbage, peeled of its first layer, then sliced thin
1 medium onion, minced
4 medium carrots, peeled, chopped
Tons of black pepper, at the beginning and end of stewing
Parsley, 1 tblspoon, minced plus 1 tsp reserved
Vegetable broth, 10 cups or:
1/2 cup tamari soy sauce, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon miso mixed with 9 cups water (taste and salt/add more miso if needed) 
1 cup frozen peas


In a large soup pot, melt your butter. Add onion and carrot and cook 10 minutes, cover on, until carrot softens a bit.


Add cabbage, stir, cook 2 minutes. Add broth, parsley, black pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is almost tender, about 45 minutes.


Meanwhile! Make your 'Tons. Like I described last time, I like to do this over the sink with a cutting board, wetting my fingers as needed to seal each wonton. So lay a wrapper out on your board and carefully wet around the edges. Pile about a tsp or tsp + 1/2 in the center of each wrapper and fold the corners together to make a triangle, making sure to work any air out as you go. Pick the wonton up and pull the two corners of the wonton's bottom together, pressing the edges together firmly, one on top of the other, to create a lopsided donut shape. Place on a dry plate and repeat until your filling is finished (I made it to 20-22).

Once your cabbage is fork-tender, it's about time to toss in the dumplings. Make sure there's a fair amount of liquid around the carrots and cabbage - add a little more water if needed and taste for salt. Carefully drop the dumplings in, stirring to make room for more, and cook, covered, 3 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, add peas, and let coo1 5 minutes. 

Ladle 4 dumplings into a bowl and cover with soup. I thoroughly enjoyed mine - I hope it gets your tummy all warm and cozy too. The next day, the dumplings had fallen apart a bit - but this was just fine, as it distributed the chewy pasta and faux-sausage throughout. Yum.