Aushak: Afghani Scallion Dumplings Recipe

Sometimes you find a dish that turns a thing you've eaten a 100 times on its head. If you haven't had Aushak, they may do that. These Afghani scallion dumplings contain no cheese or meat, but vegetables — green onions — as a previously uncooked filling. I first ate Aushak around 2000 in an Afghani restaurant in Huntington on Long Island called Ariana, and have since had other renditions, including at Helmand in Cambridge (the Afghani restaurant belonging to Mahmood Karzai, the brother of Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai), but there's no reason you can't make these. From filling and sauce to plate it'll take about an hour to make enough for two people. This recipe combines the best aspects from recipes by Ruth Reichl, Craig Claiborne, and Food.com. And yes, I hear you, "A dumpling isn't pasta! And hey, you're using wonton wrappers!" Well, technically, it's a ravioli. And as for wonton wrappers, they're a quick, easy replacement that give dishes a homemade pasta feel when you're in a rush. Click here to see Recipe SWAT Team: Pasta Dishes.