Pierogi

Pierogi

It's the most famous comfort food in Poland

Pierogis

Pierogi

The word pierogi is a Polish word that is already in its plural form. Never order Pierogis!

Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Leave it to rest under a heated bowl for 15-20 min. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (2-3 mm) and cut with a round or glass. Spoon a portion of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough into half-moon shapes and pinch edges firmly together. Let your creativity lead you through this stageJ Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining of the dough. Sprinkle a baking sheet with flour and place the filled pierogi on it in a single layer. Cover with a tea towel until all are ready to be cooked. Bring water to boil in a large, low pan and add salt. Drop in the pierogi carefully, stir lightly to ensure that they don’t stick together. Return to the boil and reduce heat. When the pierogi welcome you on the surface, continue to cook for 1-2 minutes more (depending on size). Take out carefully with a slotted spoon, add topping and serve. Here comes a well deserved part: the pierogi party! Smacznego!

Granny Helena’s dough recipe

200 g (7 oz) flour 180 ml ( 0,7 cups) of boiling water 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil Pinch of salt + beetroot juice/turmeric/sweet paprika/dried parsley/dried dill etc

• Has hundreds of varieties – you can put inside whatever you like –
• Lets you make use of left overs (like pizza, pasta, ravioli, samosa, quiche lorraine and other poor people’s food)
• Nowadays extravagant stuffing and fancy toppings to turn this simple dish into a gourmet delicacy

· Lentils with carmelised onion · Fish, eg. Salmon or trout · Prawns and dill · Fruit – strawberries, cherries, raspberries, plums, blueberries · Soft cottage cheese (+egg, sugar, raisins, etc) · poppy seeds

Filling Ideas

• Roasted or cooked chicken meat minced or in chunks
• · Minced veal and vegetables
• · Minced lamb meat
• · Roasted duck or goose chunks
• · Grilled vegetable slices
• · Fried mushrooms, eg. chanterelles
• · Spinach and feta or ricotta cheese
• · Pumpkin with parmesan cheese
• · Green beans with ricotta cheese
• · Curd cheese and cheddar with sour cream
• · Pear and blue cheese
• · Buckwheat & cottage cheese + carmelised onion

· 250g (8,8oz) floury potatoes, mashed 3 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, finely diced and pressed clove of garlic - carmelised 250g (8,8oz) cottage/curd cheese. salt, pepper

Cottage cheese and potato – ruskie pierogi

Mushroom and Sauerkraut

· 100g (3,5oz) dried wild mushrooms 500g (17oz) ready-made sauerkraut (available in jars from larger supermarkets) · 80g (7oz) soft butter. · Salt, pepper

Meat Filling

 1/2 kg (17oz) beef for broth.  1 carrot  1/2 celery.  1 parsley.  2 bay leaves  1 tsp pepper black. 5 grains allspice  water or enough to cover the meat and vegetables and boil until the everything is soft. Take out meat and veggies, cool, mince or grind, add: · salt, peper, marjoram, · 2 tablespoons of soft butter, · 2 chopped, carmelised onions (an maybe some garlic) · 1 raw egg

How to compose a filling : 1 leading ingredient (about 100 g ) + 1-2 soft ingredients summing up to ca 100 g + 1- 2 spoons of carmelised onion - chopped in cubes and fried on vegetable oil, cold + salt/pepper/spices/fresh herbs to the taste

How To Compose A Filling

History

• Pierogi came to Poland around 13th century through Ruthenia or Ruś, region around Kiev, this region belonged to Poland until the beginning of WW2, now a part of Ukraine.
• Originally pierogi arrived to Ruś (Ruthenia) from China, like many other useful inventions such as paper or gunpowder.

Granny Helena's Pierogi Hacks

· Pour the flour for the dough through a sieve to separate any lumps and in order to aerate the flour. · The filling ingredients must be cooled, otherwise the dough falls apart · Use some water to wet pierogi rims, if you put too much flour and they don’t stick · Add butter or vegetable oil to boiling water to prevent them from sticking on a plate · Water should only be slightly simmering (not rolling boil) · If you are not going to eat them immediately, let them cool down completely on an oiled platter and sprinkle some oil so that they do not get stuck, before piling them up in a food container. · Heat them in a microwave – covered and with a small cup of water · They freeze well – freeze them separately (raw or cooked) in a single layer and put in a plastic bag once they are solid, you can also freeze the raw dough and, of course, the filling, if you made too much · Defrost pierogi a bit before putting to boiling water· You may experiment with whole grain flour, the dough can also be made glutenfree