Fall Dumplings with Butternut Squash Sauce

Preparation

Make dumpling wrappers

Make two portions of dumpling wrappers or use store bought. Start dumpling filling and sauce while wrappers are proofing.

Prep cabbage and squash

Place cabbage into a large mixing bowl, throw in 1/2 tsp of salt and mix with fingers, incorporating salt throughout. Let cabbage sweat out water for about 15 minutes. After the cabbage has sweated out all its water, place onto a thin dish towel or a few layers of thick paper towels and wrap around the cabbage to enclose. Using your hands and brute strength, squeeze out as much excess water from the cabbage as you can through the towel, and set aside.

Take one squash and cut in half. Scoop out all the flesh and seeds with a spoon. Take one half the squash (we only need one half, store other half) and roughly cut halved squash into small cubes. Set aside squash in the fridge for later use.

Make Filling

Transfer cabbage to the rest of the filling mixture and use fingers to mix all that juicy meat mixture goodness together. Use a circular motion with your fingers until the filling looks homogenous and sticky, about 3 minutes. When filling is all mixed, cover with saran wrap and set aside in the fridge while making the sauce.

Make Butternut Squash Sauce

Take cubed squash out of the fridge. Put a dutch oven and put over medium high heat with butter. Once the pan is hot, throw in your diced garlic, then add diced onions once the garlic has slightly browned. When the onions are slightly transparent, add in the cubed squash and salt. Cook the squash for about 5 minutes to brown, then add water until it just is below the top of the squash. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat until the squash can be pierced with a knife, about 15-30 minutes. When done, place everything in a blender, add maple syrup, fresh thyme, ginger, lemon juice, and 1 cup water (as needed if it's too thick). Blend and set aside, add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble dumpling

Place a small dab of filling (about a third of the size of the wrapper) into the middle. Dip your finger in a little bowl of water and lightly wet the edges of the wrapper. Seal the dumpling together by carefully pleating one half of the dumpling and attaching it to the other half. Repeat until you've run out of filling or wrappers.

Steam fry dumplings and serve

Add generous dab of oil and place dumplings bottoms down onto a non-stick skillet. Fry on medium high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water and place a lid on top (add water carefully to avoid too much splattering) and steam for 5-6 minutes on medium high heat. If water evaporates before 5 minutes, add a little bit more. Once the water has evaporated at the 5-6 minute mark, give the pan a little shake and stir to give the dumplings an even browning, then take dumplings out and set aside.

To finish, place sauce on the bottom of a shallow bowl or plate, place dumplings on top. Top evenly with chevril, lemon thyme, pomegranate seeds, sumac and serve.