Soon I will be going to British Columbia to visit my sister and mother.   I am looking forward to picking blackberries, eating salmon and making this desert for my family.  It makes good use of some very classic BC ingredients.  Both blueberries and hazelnuts both grow happily in the pacific northwest.

The dumplings were adapted from a recipe in the New Joy of Cooking and they are very, very good.  They are quite a bit more sophisticated than the classic dumplings that I made for my strawberry rhubarb slump earlier this summer.  These dumplings are rich and tender and not too sweet.  The original recipe paired the dumplings with stewed peaches, but I like them with the less sweet blueberries.  Of course all of this slump making is just practice for my upcoming attempt to recreate my Estonian grandmothers stewed plums with dumplings.  That will happen just as soon as the right sort of plums are available!

BLUEBERRY SLUMP WITH HAZELNUT RICOTTA DUMPLINGS (GLUTEN-FREE)

Adapted from The New Joy of Cooking

• 1/3 cup hazelnuts or hazelnut flour
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 pounds of fresh blueberries (about 3 and 1/2 dry pints)
• 1 cup flour (I use Jeanne’s all-purpose gluten-free flour mix, click here for a link to the recipe)
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• cream for serving (optional)

1. Toast the hazelnuts for about 1 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  A small toaster oven works well for this.  When they are toasted, rub the hazelnuts to remove some of the skins. Let them cool a bit and grind them in to a very fine meal.   If you have hazelnut flour you can toast it in a dry skillet until it is golden brown.  While you are letting the hazelnuts cool you can start the blueberries.
2. Rinse the blueberries and place them in a large  heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid.  Add the water and 1/2 cup of sugar.  Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (still covered) for 10 minutes.  While you are waiting you can finish the dumplings.
3. Combine the ground and toasted hazelnuts with the flour (or gluten-free flour mix), sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta, eggs and milk.
5. Combine the dry and wet ingredients until they are combined.  The batter will look quite wet.
6. When the blueberries have simmered for 10 minutes, quickly drop tablespoons of the batter directly in to the pot.  In my pot, I have to pack in a single layer, push them into the stew and then add another layer of dumplings on top.  Cover the pot again and simmer over low heat without disturbing for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check that the dumplings are firm and dry to the touch. If they are still raw, steam the dumplings for  another 5 minutes.
7. Serve hot, drizzled with cream if you wish.

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