Ukraine Pierogi is a traditional Ukrainian recipe for a staple dish of boiled pastry dumplings with a potato, cheese and onion filling. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Ukrainian dish of: Ukraine Pierogi.
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It's best, for these pierogi, if you prepare the dough at least two hours ahead of assembly, ideally the day before, as it becomes easier to work with once it has been chilled and rested. It is best to make the filling shortly before you start preparing the pierogies because that is easier to work with when it’s slightly warm or room temperature.
Ingredients:
For the Pierogi Dough:
500g plain (all-purpose) flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
50g butter, softened
1 egg
lukewarm water
For the Potato and Cheese Filling:
900g floury potatoes (like Maris Piper), peeled
Salt, to taste
90g Cheddar cheese, grated
120ml cream cheese
2 tbsp butter
freshly-grated Black pepper, to taste
Method:
Begin by preparing the dough: Sift together the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the butter is evenly and thoroughly distributed through the flour.
Crack the egg into a measuring jug and whisk it lightly. Stir in enough water to make up 500ml of liquid.
Drizzle half of the water mixture into the flour and stir. Continue to add more liquid until a soft dough is formed. It will be slightly tacky but not very sticky. Knead the dough for 10 seconds, just to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
Cut the dough into four equal pieces. Wrap each piece in a sheet of clingfilm (plastic wrap), shaping each one into a 10cm diameter disk. Put the wrapped discs of dough into a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours 9but ideally 8-24 hours).
To Prepare the Filling: Cut the potatoes into 3cm chunks. Put into a medium saucepan with 1 teaspoon of salt and enough water just to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are fork tender (about 15 minutes). Drain the potatoes and transfer to a large bowl before mashing them.
To the mashed potatoes add the Cheddar, cream cheese, and butter. Stir and/or mash until fairly smooth. Some small chunks of potato are fine but you want it mostly mashed. Season to taste with salt and black pepper — it should taste really cheesy and good, not bland, because the dough doesn’t have much flavour (all the flavour comes from the filling).
Assembling and Cooking the Pierogi: Fill a large pan (about 6l) with water and put it over high heat, covered with a lide. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat, keeping the pot covered, until you’re ready to start boiling the pierogies. At that time, you will bring it back to a boil before proceeding.
Line a baking tray with a clean, lint-free, kitchen towel and sprinkle with flour. This is where you can set the pierogies as you prepare and fill them, and then cover with another towel so they don’t dry out.
Put a few tablespoons of water in a small bowl — you'll use thisto help you seal the pierogies.
Fill a large pan or bowl with cold tap water to cool down pierogies after boiling, unless you plan to serve them all immediately.
Now Roll and Cut the Dough. Take one disk of dough out of the fridge. Dust your work surface with flour, sit the dough on top, and dust the top of the dough and your rolling pin with more flour.
Roll the dough out to about 3mm thick, flipping it once or twice, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
Use an 8cm diameter round pastry cutter or glass to cut as many circles as possible from the dough.
Gather up the scraps, form into a ball of dough, and wrap it back up and put in the fridge (you can roll it out one more time later, once it has re-cooled, to get more pierogies from it).
Fill and prepare all the circles of dough you just cut out, as described below, before rolling out another piece of dough.
Filling and Sealing the Pierogies: Sit a the first circle of dough in the palm of your non-dominant hand, sticky side up if there is one. Place one tablespoon of filling in the centre.
Moisten the tip of your index finger on the other hand with water and run it along the edge of the dough on one half of the pierogi, making a “C” of water, to help glue the sides together. Fold the unmoistened side up and over the filling to meet the moistened side.
Pinch the two sides together all the way around so that you end up with a half-moon shape. If you’re not sure, go over the pinched edge a second time to make sure it’s completely sealed.
Sit the pierogi on your towel-lined baking tray and top it with the second towel so that the finished pierogies don’t dry out while you prepare more.
Continue filling the pierogies using the remaining rounds of dough, adding them to the baking sheet as you finish each one, making sure that the pierogies don’t touch each other because they can stick together.
At this point, if it has taken you more than 30 minutes to fill the pierogies, you should boil them as explained below before rolling out any more dough. If it's taken you less time than this, you can roll out one more piece of dough and fill the pierogies from that, and then boil the two batches together. I don’t advise that you boil more than that at a time.
Boiling the Pierogi: Bring your hot water back to a boil. Being careful to not let the pierogies touch as you go, transfer them to the pot a few at a time, dropping them gently into the water. Once they are all added, stir gently.
Simmer the pierogies, stirring occasionally, until some start to float, 3-5 minutes.
Use a large slotted spoon or spider strainer to remove floating pierogies from pot and transfer them to dinner plates or a serving platter. Alternatively, if you’re preparing them for the fridge/freezer, transfer them to cool water and see instructions here below for cooling and storing. Or, if you are hoping to keep these warm for an hour or two to serve as part of a larger dinner, see here below about keeping them warm.
Serve hot pierogies with fried onions and sour cream.
Leftovers can be stored in air-tight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
