If you want low-fat food that cooks up quickly, stop reading now. But if you see merit in hearty ethnic food, made from scratch from natural ingredients, roll up your sleeves and prepare for some messy fun.
Pierogi are the Polish version of the peasant dumplings that also show up in Chinese and Italian cuisine. Frugality explains their pervasiveness. Farmsteads would almost always have some kind of flour and eggs on hand — along with leftovers for the dumpling filling.
But that hardly means pierogi constitute a poverty meal. Filled with potatoes or cabbage, they have a special place at Christmas Eve, when many Catholics still observe that day’s meatless tradition, mandatory until 1983. Meatless or not, the groaning board of a Polish Wigilia (the Christmas Eve celebration) has little to do with abstinence.
Poles also eat pierogi year-round. As with dim sum or tortellini, pierogi are too gobsmackingly tasty to restrict to just one day out of 365.
My recipe for 16 large, cabbage-stuffed pierogi — enough to feed four generously — has been cobbled together over the years from family recipes and trial and error.
· For the dough: 3 cups white flour; 2 eggs; up to 1 cup water; plus at least 1 stick of butter for sautéing.
· For cabbage filling: 1 head of green cabbage, shredded; 1 large onion, chopped; 1 T butter; 1/2 t salt; freshly ground pepper (to taste)
The night before you start up the dumpling factory, soak the shredded cabbage overnight in a covered pot of warm water. The next day, bring it to boil, cover and simmer 90 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the onion until brown and crisp. Combine sautéed onions with the fully drained cabbage. Add salt and pepper and cool.
Fill a big pot with water and put it on high heat. While it comes to a boil, combine the flour and eggs in a big bowl. Gradually add 1/2 cup water. Mix well. Add enough of the remaining 1/2 cup to achieve a smooth, cohesive texture. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead until elastic (a judgment call, but egg doughs are forgiving).
Working only part of the dough at a time, roll out to a thickness of about 1/16.” Cut into 6″ circles (ball up the scraps to roll out for more pierogi).
Each dumpling will need about 1/3 cup of the cabbage mixture. The idea is to cram as much as possible onto half of the rolled-out circle and still be able to fold over the other half and seal it. After pressing the folded edges together, pinch all around that seam.
Slide 4 of the stuffed pierogi at a time into the boiling water. Reduce heat to medium, cover the pot and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and park them on waxed paper (to avoid sticking). Repeat for remaining dumplings. Parboiled pierogi can be kept covered in the fridge for several days.
Melt 2T butter in each skillet (you’ll need several or will need to work in stages) and saute the pierogi over medium high heat, until well browned and crisp on each side. Add more butter as needed. An entire stick is not overkill for 16 large pierogi.
Purists would not think of draining the fat. Arrange the buttery pierogi on plates and let each diner salt them to his own taste. Enjoy.
Sources:
www.tastingpoland.com/food/pierogi.html
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/07/in-praise-of-pierogi