Most of you have probably had pierogis before. What you may not know is that you can be quite flexible with the filling. "Milk Bars," which are wonderful Polish restaurants that serve lots of quick vegetarian fare will have pierogis filled with potatoes, cheese, fruit, mushrooms. Polish cooking is big on winging it... it's not uncommmon for a recipe to just say something like, "add flour," assuming that the cook knows what consistency to look for. I'll give you a bit more than that, but the key is to improvise, especially with the filling.
Start with:
some sort of filling and some dough. The recipe for the dough is:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
2 T sour cream
1/2 cup lukewarm water.
Mix ingredients and knead. Cover in a bowl for around 30 minutes (enough time to make your filling).
Next, make your filling. Our favorite is some sauteed mushrooms, onions, and minced chicken with a spoonfull of sour cream and salt. Other common fillings are mashed potatoes with onions, farmers cheese, or fruit.
Now roll out your dough until it's a nice big sheet and as thin as you can get it:
Cut your dough into a circle. You can either do this with a glass or one of these nifty pierogi molds.
Take your circle, fill it with a teaspoon of your filling, brush the edge with a bit of whisked egg yolk and then fold over (the mold has a hinge that will do that for you). Press thoroughly around the edge.
See? There it is! Almost done.
We had some extra dough, so we also made some filled with blueberries (just plain old frozen blueberries... no sugar necessary). Delicious!
Next, fry them in a little bit of oil (just a tablespoon or so), and sprinkle with some coarse salt. We will often serve them with a little sour cream on the side and some vegetables. The fruit pierogi are delicious sprinkled with a little sugar.
8 comments:
Oooo, now that looks like something I could make and perhaps my finicky eater will eat. Yummy!
I was just thinking about this yesterday, hoping you'd post a recipe!
When I was little, my mom served pierogis with mashed potatoes and cheese inside. I loved them!
P.S. Have you ever head the Veggie Tales Christmas album with the song "8 Polish Foods of Christmas"? (Track 22: http://tinyurl.com/polishsong)
Growing up in the deep south I had never heard of pierogis until 10 years ago when we were newly married and living in Ohio. In fact, I think I was in Pittsburgh the first time I sample one. They are delish!
Now that we've returned to our deep south roots I'm thrilled that you shared this recipe and tutorial so that I can create a treat and resurrect a happy memory from our days in the midwest.
Yum! It looks like the empanadas I've made with my grandmother.
I'll have to try these too!
I adore pierogi's, especially cheddar and broccoli.
I am also writing to let you know that i am having a book giveaway in honor of this month of love. WOuld love for you to join in and comment.
You are a doll! I was just commenting on my friend living in Chicago that has instant access to handmade pierogies. They're a constant Christmas Eve staple at my parents and I truly miss those magnificent dumplings. Now I'll have to get some farmers cheese and mashed potatoes, a whole mess of onions, real butter, and sour cream!
In the south the closest we have is fried pies (similar to those Hostess dessert pies). While delicious in their own rights they just don't match up to a good pierogi!
Yummy! Thanks for sharing this! My hubs will thank you too!
I was just reading an article in Martha Stewart about how to make pierogis. I think I like your method even better.
They look utterly divine.
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