19 March 2017

Potato and leek pierogi


I have been meaning to make vegetarian pierogi for ages, but only managed to make them now. Pierogi are basically Eastern European filled dumplings, and I always find the veggie versions so tasty. When I was a student a long time ago, my Russian friends showed me the method, and we cooked some lovely vegetarian potato pierogi together. I'm not sure, if I kept a lot of knowledge of their method, but I still remember that night very vividly.

Quite a while ago I found a recipe for vegan Potato Pierogi With Caramelized Onions by Isa Chandra, and saved it for future reference, as I knew that I would like to make pierogi again, and her recipe sounded like there wouldn't be too much fuss. So now I amended the recipe slightly, especially the filling, as I added leeks seasoned with cider, but followed her lead otherwise. Her tips especially for the dough are very valuable.

I served my pierogi with some fried onions and mushrooms and homemade kale crisps. It was a simple dish, but so good. Have a look at my recipe below.


Potato and leek pierogi

Adapted from Potato Pierogi With Caramelized Onions by Isa Chandra

Ingredients

For the filling:

500 g new potatoes
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 leek
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Sprinkle of salt
Sprinkle of ground black pepper
Dash of dry cider (optional)

For the dough:

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup warm water
3 cups wheat flour
Sprinkle of salt

Method

Isa makes her dough last, because it's messy, but I like to get rid of this phase in the beginning. Mix the dough ingredients together, but leave one cup of flour on the side. Add it later, once the dough starts shaping. Knead for a while, wrap in cling film and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Then off to the filling making: Cook the potatoes, mash and set to side. Chop the onion and garlic finely and slice the leek. Start frying the onion in vegetable oil until it's softened and slightly browned. Then add the garlic, soon followed by the leeks. Pour a dash of cider to the pot, if you like, and season. Let simmer under lid until the leeks are soft and all flavours have blended nicely.

Roll out a part of the dough and cut evenly sized circles from it. You can use a cookie cutter, or even a glass. Put about one tablespoon of the filling onto the dough circles, close by pinching and set to side on a floured surface. I even have a small pierogi maker that presses the sides together, so that was quite handy.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, and cook the pierogi there in batches of about six. They are done when they float on the surface. I additionally fried them in some margarine, but this is optional, however it does add something nice to them.

Serve the pierogi with the sides of your choice and enjoy!




Have a relaxing Sunday!

Your VegHog

6 comments:

  1. your pierogi looks wonderful - we had a cafe that served pierogi and I was sad when it closed - though my favourite pierogi memories are a friend who made a yeasted pierogi dough - must try it again - made a very poor attempt at it in early blogging days - am impressed you made the dough here as it makes a dish seem so much more fiddly

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    1. Thank you Johanna! I wish someone would serve good pierogi around here... I was actually surprised how well the dough came together and was easy to work with. It's certainly not my favourite pastime making and rolling out dough...

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  2. Guess what I have had pierogi twice this week, even though I've pierogi once in the past which was also Isa - PPK recipe, this time it came from a packet potato and chilli flavour. It was so good. I must try to make some more again, they freeze well too.

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    1. Oh lucky you, at the moment I feel like eating pierogi every day! :) I need to keep my eyes open for the offering out there, although I must say that for a weekend day, it wasn't too much of an effort. I just wouldn't manage making them on a weekday...

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Thanks for reading! I would very much appreciate any comments or suggestions from you.