I’ve made several versions of pierogi since visiting Poland in June, one of the best being Felicity Cloake’s perfect series. I also asked for advice from my Polish builders and the local Polish shop. I think I’ve got it now. Although similar to ravioli and stuffed pasta, they aren’t the same. You have to make them fresh – the mistake I made when serving strawberry pierogi at the supper club. I should have boiled then frozen them or kept them in the fridge, rather then making them in the morning and boiling them in the evening. Unlike ravioli and fresh pasta, they don’t benefit from drying out.
Some kind of stuffed dumpling or pasta seems to be universal. Every country has their version, just as every country has a porridge recipe or a pancake recipe. Grain plus water plus a pinch of salt is so basic in terms of ingredients.
I’ve become quite addicted to making pierogi, so why don’t you have a go?
Pierogi russki recipe
Although this is called 'russkie', it refers to Ruthenians, or Eastern Slavic people.The 500T flour refers to the grind, which is finer, like Italian 00 flour. You are looking for 11% protein plain/all purpose flour. It will say on the packet how much protein there is. I believe the higher the protein, the more gluten and stretchiness in the flour, which is what you want when making pierogi. Here is a great guide to Polish flour.
Serves 25 pierogi
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 250 g 500 flour or ideally the Polish flour Maka Puszysta
- 100 ml hot water
- 1 tbp salt
- 2 tbsp butter
For the russki stuffing:
- 3 medium potatoes, unpeeled
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 large brown onion
- 4 tbsp butter
- 100g twarog cheese, cottage cheese or quark
- 50 g sauerkraut (optional)
- bunch dill fresh or frozen (optional)
- 2 tsp white pepper, ground
For the strawberry stuffing:
- 200 g strawberries, hulled and cut into slices,
To serve:
- 4 tbsp butter for sautéing.
- 100 ml sour cream
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds
Instructions
For the dough:
- Mix the flour and salt in a bowl
- Mix the hot water and butter in another bowl, until the butter melts
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, kneading until you have a shiny dough that doesn't stick but does form a clump. The amount of water is dependent on the weather and your kitchen so add water if it's too dry, tablespoon by tablespoon.
- Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes at least.
For the fried onions:
- Slice up the onion finely and soften in a pan with the butter until golden. (This is so delicious you may want to do 2 onions).
For the russki stuffing:
- Boil the potatoes in salted water, whole with their skins on. Once a fork goes in easily, after 15 to 20 minutes, remove and skin.
- Using a ricer or a potato masher, mash the dry potatoes and mix with the twarog/cottage/quark cheese. Season with salt and white pepper.
- You have a few options here: many readers swore by adding sauerkraut to the mixture. I put in dill which tasted great. You could also add fresh grated horseradish. Felicity Cloake added some of the fried onion to the mixture. Set aside your mixture and roll out the pierogi.
To roll out the pierogi:
- Once the dough is rested, lightly flour a clean surface.
- Using a rolling pin, try to roll out as large a piece of dough as possible, to a couple of millimetres thick. You can reuse scraps but the second batch of pierogi will be tougher, hence my advice to roll it out as big as you can, to get as many as possible from the first batch of dough.
- Using either a glass or an 8/9cm circular pastry cutter, cut out the pierogi. Leave them on a floured tray or another section of kitchen counter, covering them again with a damp tea towel until you are ready to fill them.
Filling the pierogi:
- Using a teaspoon, add a little of the mixture to the middle of each pierogi. Don't overstuff as the dough might break. The dough is quite dry, so have a glass of water to moisten your fingers to close them up into clam-like semi-circles. Store on the floured tray.
For the strawberry stuffing:
- Another alternative stuffing is strawberries (or blueberries) simply cut up and put inside the pierogi. It's surprisingly delicious.
Cooking the pierogi:
- Fill a wide saucepan with boiling salted water. If you are going to eat them straight away, have another pan with the butter for sautéing.
- Pop half a dozen of the pierogi into the saucepan. Once they float, 2 or 3 minutes, fish them out with a slotted spoon and deposit them on another tray with either a silpat/silicone mat or grease proof paper. Don't let them touch each other. Keep doing this until they are all cooked.
- If you want to eat them later, store them in the fridge, and sauté just before eating. They last 3 days. Or you can freeze them. If using immediately, sauté them in the pan with the melted butter.
To serve:
- Put a few pierogi on each plate, top with sour cream, fried onions. Serve hot.
- For the strawberry version, serve with sour cream and poppy seeds.
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