In case you have not been exposed to my theory on dumplings permuting every culture, in their own versions, pierogi are an exemplary example of Polish dumpling magic. Please comment below if you know of any cultures which you are certain do not claim a traditional dumpling-like dish.
Our intellectual friends define the dumpling as
noun
Dictionary.com
1. a rounded mass of steamed and seasoned dough, often served in soup or with stewed meat.
2. a dessert consisting of a wrapping of dough enclosing sliced apples or other fruit, boiled or baked.
Steamed or boiled, the dumpling is best described as stuffed dough surprising humans with its versatility for centuries. Chinese dumplings as well as American dumplings spell it out in their title, but the German maultaschen and knödel, Italian ravioli (I mean, aren’t they?) and culurgionis, madombi, my old roommate’s favorite – empanadas, and the heavenly khinkali all represent their cultures in dumpling form. Each stuffed dough is a treasure and a treat.
Time to stop drooling and focus on potato stuffed pierogi!
Did you know Pierogi is plural and there is no need to add an “s” to the end? Americans are fond of throwing esses to the ends of words, and when Polish is not a popular language across this country, pierogis in the American vernacular can be forgiven. Now you know though, pieróg vs. pierogi.
We make homemade pasta a couple of satisfying times a month in our house. The formula is easy: flour + egg + salt + oil. Viola! (or whatever the equivalent is in Italian.) For pierogi dough used to always make it the same disappointing way, often times the crimped ends would cook to be too chewy or hard for our tastes. I researched alternatives and solutions and learned that in Poland, where grandmas also do not measure their dough ingredients, there is debate about whether the dough should be made with or without egg.
As the title of this post spoils the suspense, I will go ahead and tell you what we tried and why I recommend no egg. The challenge the no egg method presents is that extra care needs to be taken to build the gluten in the dough. While pasta does not generally require heavy gluten build up, the no egg pierogi dough can be very supple, and almost melt in your hands. It needs to keep some structure in order to hold the filling and travel from the counter to the boiling water.
Although slightly more effort might be needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter or from avoiding the desired half moon shape, the results more closely resemble restaurant pierogi than the version with egg.
Take-Home Tips: Take care to knead this dough thoroughly, several minutes at least, to build gluten. Mind the water temperatures, and try not to exceed them to help. Heavily flour your surface before rolling out the dough and use a bench scraper if it sticks. If the dough becomes frustrating, fold it around your filling until it is covered, regardless of the shape and rest assured it will cook and taste the same. When cut, if the rounds are too soft, it is best to leave them uncovered to dry.
No cookie cutter, no problem! Use a cup (plastic probably best), mason jar lid, small bowl, or even free cut them with a knife. Just make sure whatever you get creative with, that you clean it beforehand. As you can see from the photos, we made half of them in the ravioli mold – as a demonstration for our dinner guests. Do you call them potato stuffed ravioli? We ate them along side our pierogi and were very pleased.
For the filling, create your favorite, flavorful potato recipe, or go wild and crazy with a new version. It is best when over salted or seasoned. It was almost lip-puckeringly salty and we still could hardly taste the seasoning in the final product. It is best to keep it on the dryer side; there is no need to add milk or sour cream to these potatoes, as the cheese and butter will add enough moisture.
Scoring: 9 of 10. Taste, texture, tincture and touch (eh, C effort there) combined to form the best pierogi yet. The preparation took a negligible amount of time that our dinner guests were able to join us for the whole process: dinner and a show. Make them ahead, freeze before boiling, and it you can start the water boiling when your guests pull in the drive way. Scrumptious, filling, easily made vegan (cheese is not required but could add nutritional yeast, maybe substitute some vegan butter), and serve with vegetables for a lighter take.
Food of the Month 