Russian Pierogi is a traditional Russian recipe for the classic dumpling of a flour dough with a potato, quark cheese and onion filling that's boiled to cook and which can be re-heated by frying. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Russian version of: Russian Pierogi.
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Ingredients:
350g flour
1 small egg
130ml water, lukewarm
600g potatoes
250g quark cheese
1 medium onion
1 tbsp butter
Salt and coarsely-ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp melted lard or butter for basting
200ml sour cream
Method:
For the filling, peel the potatoes, wash them and cook them in salted water until tender. Drain the potatoes then process whilst still hot into a smooth mass. Chop the onion and fry in 1 tablespoon butter until golden (about 10 minutes).
Beat the quark until smooth then mix together the mashed potatoes, quark and onions together with the melted fat in a bowl. Stir well until smooth then season to taste with salt and pepper. The mixture should not contain any visible curd or potato lumps.
Combine the flour, egg, water and a little salt in a large bowl. Mix to combine then knead a smooth dough. Divide into 2 equal portions.
Take the first piece of dough and roll out thinly on a floured work surface. Cut out circles about 7–8cm in diameter with a glass. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each dough circle, then fold the dough into crescents and carefully press the edges to seal. Be careful not to let the filling get to the edges.
Repeat the process with the second piece of dough until all the dough and filling have been used up.
To cook the pierogi bring a shallow saucepan of water to a boil. Add in the pierogi (you may need to cook in batches) and boil, stirring gently, until they come to float on the surface. Cook for another 2-3 minutes from this point.
Remove the finished pierogi from the pan Take with a slotted spoon.
Serve with hot butter or hot lard. Serve the sour cream in a separate bowl.
Cold pierogi can be fried in butter or lard to heat them up.
