Cheese and onion pierogi
Little pillowy clouds of cheesy goodness
The ultimate in Polish comfort food, pierogis are scrumptious filled dumplings that are super fun to make from scratch with just a handful of staple ingredients. Much like ravioli, mantoo or gyoza, these delicious morsels can be filled with almost anything, from savoury minced meat and shredded chicken to seasoned mushrooms or even jam.
The pierogies in this recipe, known as pierogi ruskie, are stuffed with caramelised onions, potatoes and a mix of both cottage and cheddar cheese. This variety of dumplings traditionally uses farmer's cheese – a mild, slightly sour pressed cheese that’s common in Poland – but cottage cheese or ricotta make great alternatives.
The traditional way to cook pierogi is by boiling them, but if you prefer a crispier dumpling we've added in the option to pan fry too.
We recommend making the pierogi dough in advance and refrigerating it so you can get to assembling the dumplings the following day. Allowing the dough to rest also makes it easier to roll it out thinly and handle once filled.
- Yields:
- 15 - 18
- Prep Time:
- 20 mins
- Cook Time:
- 15 mins
- Total Time:
- 35 mins
Ingredients
For the dough
- 230 g
flour
- 1
egg
- 1/2 tbsp.
oil
- 1/2 tsp.
salt
- 75 ml
warm water
- 1 1/2 tbsp.
salted butter
- 90 g
onion, diceed
- 100 g
cooked potatoes, roughly mashed
- 90 g
cottage cheese
- 15 g
cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/4 tsp.
pepper
- 1 tsp.
oil
- 1 tbsp.
chopped chives
Directions
- Step 1To make your dough, place all the ingredients in a stand mixer on low until incorporated. Turn the speed up to medium for 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth. If it feels sticky add an extra spoonful of flour. Cover the dough in cling film and refrigerate it for one hour or place in the fridge to use the next day.
- Step 2Next, add butter to frying pan over medium heat. Once melted add onions and a pinch of salt and turn down the heat down to the lowest it will go and leave the onions to gently caramelise for about 30 minutes. Stir every so often to prevent them sticking. Allow to cool. Reserve half the onions for the topping.
- Step 3In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, cheeses, cooled onions and pepper until well combined.
- Step 4For the filling, mix the potatoes, cheeses, cooled onions and pepper together with your hands until well combined.
- Step 5To assemble the pierogi, remove dough from fridge and let it sit out for 15 minutes to make it easier to roll. Roll out the dough to a large rectangle (about 3mm in thickness) and cut out circles using a cookie cutter or a glass with a 7cm diameter. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling into the centre of each circle and fold over the sides so they meet. Seal up the edges by pressing your fingers all the way around each pierogi. Use a fork to make indentations on the edges to seal the filling in well. Repeat the process with any remaining dough.
- Step 6The traditional way to cook pierogi is by boiling them. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add 1/4tsp salt and oil before dropping in five pierogies at a time. Give them a stir to prevent them sticking to the pan. Adjust the heat so the water gently simmers. The pierogies will rise to the surface when they are almost ready, about 2 minutes. Allow to cook for a further two minutes before removing with a slotted spoon and placing on a cooling rack. Cook the remainder of the pierogies in the same way.
- Step 7To serve, pour any butter left in the pan over the pierogies and scatter over the chives and remaining caramelised onions. Eat while hot.
If you prefer a crispier dumpling, pan fry your pierogi by adding butter to a very wide pan with a large surface area over medium heat. Once it sizzles add the pierogi (you can do this in batches if your pan isn’t large enough). Allow them to crisp up and turn a golden brown on one side for 2-3 minutes before flipping over. Add the reserved caramelised onions to the pan. Once the final sides of the pierogies are brown and crispy, remove them to a serving platter.
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