Recipe video above. Pierogi Ruskie's are Polish dumplings filled with cheesy, creamy mashed potatoes served with an onion butter sauce. They are even more delicious than they sound! Traditionally made with quark which is an European fresh cheese which isn't easily found in Australia, so I've used cheddar because I want this recipe to be as accessible as possible to many people to experience the greatness that is Pieorgis!!! More in Note 2.Excellent weekend project – eat some today and freeze some for later (they cook from frozen). Makes a nice big batch of 30 pierogis. For more dumplings of the world - head here!
Boil potatoes - Put potato and 1 tbsp salt in a large saucepan. Add cold tap water so it's 3cm/1 inch above potatoes. Bring to a boil on high heat then reduce heat to medium high and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
Mash - Drain, then pass the potatoes through a potato ricer into a bowl (or use potato masher)
Cheese it - Immediately add butter, cheese, salt and pepper. Mix with a wooden spoon until fully combined.
Cool - Spread out ~1cm / 1/2" thick on a tray. Cover with cling wrap, pressing so it is fully in contact. Cool on the counter (~30 min) then refrigerate until cold (1 hour+).
Pierogi Dough:
Melt butter - Heat up the water and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat just until butter is melted, do not boil water. (Or do this in the microwave). Turn off heat.
Mix dough - Whisk the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and then add the butter water plus egg. Mix to combine into a shaggy dough.
Knead - Scrape out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 5 minutes until the dough becomes smooth (Note 3). You could also use your stand mixer.
Rest - Wrap with cling wrap and leave on the counter for 30 minutes.
Wrapping pierogis:
Roll & cut - On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 3mm / 1/8" thickness. Cut out rounds using a 7.5 cm / 3" cutter. Do as many as you can, then gather surplus dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap and set aside for later.
Fill & wrap - Place 1 tablespoon of cheesy potato filling in the middle of a round. Dip finger with water and run along edge of half the circle. Fold dough over to enclose the filling and press to seal, making slight indents (no pleats).
Wrap remaining - Place them on a lightly floured tray and continue to wrap remaining Pierogi (including rolling out the remaining dough). You should get ~30 pierogis.
Onion butter sauce:
In a non stick skillet, melt the butter until foamy over medium heat. Add onion and salt, then cook, stirring regularly, for 10 to 15 minutes until golden on the edges. Scrape out into a bowl, then set aside (OK to cool).
Cooking & serving pierogis:
Batch cooking - Directions below are for cooking and serving 10. Boil pierogis in batches of 10 to 12 max, they need space to bounce around in the water, and you need space to toss them in the butter. (Note 4 for big batch cooking)
Boil 5 minutes - Bring ~3 litres/quarts of water to the boil with 1 tbsp salt. Lower 10 piergosi into the water. Cook for 5 minutes - they should be floating on the surface.
Reserve water & drain - Dip a jug into the water and scoop out ~1 cup water. Then use a slotted spoon to transfer pierogi into a bowl (or drain, if not cooking more).
Butter sauce - Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1/3 of the onion butter plus the cooked pierogis with 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water. Toss for 1 minute, still on the stove, until the pierogis are coated in the butter. (Note 4 on scaling up)
Serve - Slide onto a serving plate, scraping out every drop of butter. Sprinkle with parsley, add a dollop of sour cream. Eat and be happy!
Notes
Recipe credits - Primarily adapted from this recipe from New York Times Cooking, with references to a whole bunch of other recipes. The main changes we made were process related.Serving size - 4 to 5 pierogis with a side salad makes a nice meal. They are pretty rich, actually, being solely comprised of potato, cheese and butter!1. Potatoes – Use your favourite mashing potatoes. All-rounder and floury / starchy potatoes are best. The most common potatoes stocked at regular stores should be good all-rounders.Australia – Sebago (common dirt brushed potatoes), Desiree. US: Yukon Gold, russet, UK: Maris piper, King Edward.2. Cheese - Traditionally made with quark which is an European fresh cheese which isn't easily found in Australia. While cottage cheese is probably the closest substitute, I've used shredded cheese which, as you can imagine, is a delicious alternative when it's melted throughout the potato. I use cheddar but any good melting cheese you'd happily put in your grilled cheese is fine (tasty, gruyere, Colby). Give mozzarella a miss - doesn't have enough flavour for this recipe.3. Kneading - When you first mix the dough in the bowl and form into a ball, the surface is rough and shaggy. It is kneaded enough when the surface of the dough ball is smooth. See video at 1.39.4. Batch cooking - Don't boil more than 10 - 12 pierogis max in a large pot because they need room to bounce around. To cook lots, boil 10 - 12 at a time, scoop out and spread on a tray. Boil the next batch. Then just before serving, put them all back into the boiling water for 30 seconds to warm them back up. Drain, then toss in the butter sauce with a splash of the reserved cooking water.Butter amount - You'll need around 1 1/2 tbsp / 25g plus 2 tablespoons of the cooking water for 8 to 10 pierogis. For all 30, you'll need around 70g / 4 1/2 tbsp butter and 1/3 cup water. You can eyeball it. Butter is not an exact science here!5. Make ahead - Pierogis freeze 100% perfectly and can be boiled from frozen! Just add an extra 1 - 2 minutes to the cook time. Freeze in single layers in an airtight container. To save space, you can freeze them on a tray then bundle them into an airtight container.