Polish Pierogi
Photography Courtesy Ben Lochard
in the kitchen with… November/December 2020
Ingredients
Dough
2½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon butter, melted
Meat Filling
3–4 cups leftover pot roast, ground
2 onions, chopped and sautéed
1 egg beaten
Cheese Filling
2 cups dry cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
2 egg yolks, beaten
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon grated onion
Dash salt
Sauerkraut Filling
1 15-ounce jar sauerkraut, drained
2 onions, chopped
Butter
Instructions
Dough
- To prepare dough, combine flour and salt. Make a well in center of flour. Pour water, beaten eggs and butter into well.
- Lightly knead dough, just until well mixed. Cover dough with a plate and let rest 10 minutes, while preparing filling.
Filling
(Choose a filling. Elizabeth makes the meat one.)
- To prepare meat filling, grind leftover pot roast in a food processor. Add onions and egg; mix.
- To prepare cheese filling, mix all ingredients.
- To prepare sauerkraut filling, sauté onion in butter; add drained sauerkraut and mix.
Pierogi
- Using a small amount of dough, roll out very thin. Make two pierogi at a time. Cut dough into two parts.
- Place heaping teaspoon of filling on each piece of dough. Moisten edges of dough with water. Fold over and seal with fork tines.
- Boil a pot of water. Drop about 10 dumplings at a time into the water. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes or until pierogi float to top. Lift out of water with a slotted spoon.
- Drain well on paper towels. You may freeze at this point for later use.
- To cook, defrost and put bread crumbs on top of pierogi. Fry in melted butter or margarine in large skillet on very low heat. Or, preheat oven to 325°F. In a baking dish, pour melted butter over pierogi and bread crumbs before putting into oven. Heat until hot. Makes about 21 dumplings.
Recipe courtesy Elizabeth Williams
