This week I decided to tackle homemade pierogies. It was a lot like making ravioli in that the consistency of the dough is key to how the final product comes out, and it can be difficult to get it right. Mine came out fairly decent for the first try. I had a lot of fun picking out different types of fillings, but ultimately settled on a classic of beef/potato/onion and a vegetarian version of sweet potato/squash/zucchini/ginger/carrot. In the end they were delicious yet fairly time consuming. The dough was also really tough to roll out and got tougher as the time went on. The best pierogies had the thinnest dough- around 2-3 mm- which took a lot of muscle- and the thicker ones came out more chewy (similar to my ravioli experience!). Here is a shot of the two fillings:
Ingredients and Directions:
Dough (makes 30, I doubled it for the two fillings)
from: http://www.tastingpoland.com/food/recipes/pierogi_dough_1.html
1. Prepare the bowl. Put 3 cups of flour through a sieve. Add half a
teaspoon of the salt.
2. Pour 0.75 of cup of boiling water while
quickly stirring with the fork. Crumble flour lumps with a fork.
3. Cover the bowl with the cotton cloth and put aside for five minutes.
4. Pour a quarter of a cup of cold water,
again mash pellets with the fork and cover the bowl with the cloth. Put
pierogi dough aside for 15 minutes.
5. Add half a teaspoon
of oil and knead the dough until it's smooth. It should require 5 to 10
minutes of kneading. Pierogi dough should be stretch and have a
homogeneous consistency and color.
6. Roll dough on the table or pastry board, until the thickness of about 3
millimeters. Before you start rolling up, you should flour the pastry
board so that pierogi dough doesn't adhere to it. While rolling up you
can also lightly sprinkle the dough with the flour if needed. However,
remember that only one side of the dough should sprinkled with the
flour. We want the other side to cling to itself easily while folding
pierogi when filling will be ready.
7. Cut circles out of dough clump by using a cup.
8. Arrange stuffing in the middle of every circle and fold each pierogi.
9. Collect scraps of pierogi dough, knead again, roll up and cut second set of circles.
10. Spoon a small amount of filling into the center of the circles, pinch to close.
11. Drop into a pot of boiling water, they will be ready when they float (about 3-5 minutes).
12. Drain from water and transfer to a griddle/pan with butter, cook until golden.
Beef/Potato/Onion Filling:
Cut 3 large yukon gold potatoes and boil until soft, then mix in a food processor until smooth. Brown 1 lb. of ground beef in a skillet with one grated onion. Mix together.
Sweet Potato//Squash/Zucchini/Ginger/Carrot Filling:
Cut 2 large sweet potatoes into chunks and boil until soft, then place in a food processor with 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 6 carrots, and 1 large chunk of ginger until smooth. Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a pan, add 1-2 minced cloves of garlic until golden, then add filling, a pinch of sage, and salt/pepper to taste. Cook until heated through.
