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Koulakia Koulakia

Chances are, the majority of you have not heard of koulakia before. They are a dumpling stuffed with feta cheese, typically found in Greek cuisine.

My mom made these growing up from my great-grandmother's recipe, and I'm here to share it with you.

Warning: This is not an exact measurement kind of recipe. We're going to make it like yiayia made it, eye-balling it. So know that you may need to adjust flour and water ratios along the way.

Starting off:

2 c white all-purpose flour
3/4 c water (add slowly 1/4 c at a time, kneading into the flour to make the pasta dough)
2 t salt

I toss this all into the Kitchen Aid with the dough hook on a low setting as I add the water so I can see how it's coming together.

Set a large pot of water to boil on the stovetop while we make the dough.


Once you've achieved a ball of dough (you're shooting for no crumbles and not too sticky), flour a surface and roll out flat. You may need to do this in batches depending on how much dough you're working with.



On the side, cube feta cheese into 1/2" cubes (this is about 1/2 lb. of feta). Set aside.


Slice the rolled dough into rectangles measuring 1 1/2" x 3" long. Place 1 cube of feta inside each slice and fold over, pinching the edges. My mom uses a fork to pinch the sides, while I like to hand pinch.


Once the water is at a rolling boil, drop each dough ball into the water (carefully). I like to use a strainer spoon to push them around the in the water so they don't stick to each other.


Boil about 12 minutes, until cooked through. Carefully remove them from the water and allow to rest on a kitchen towel to let some of the water run off.


Sure you could make a fancy sauce for these, but we keep it simple. Melt a stick of butter in a small sauce pan over med/high heat just enough to get a nice golden brown color, then remove it from heat immediately. Any longer and it will burn and taste bitter.


Pour over your beautifully made koulakia for a little butteriness.



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