Vegan Pierogi Ruskie - Polish Dumplings
Vegan Pierogi Ruskie - soft traditional dumplings. Filled with a mixture of mashed potato, sautéed onion, and dairy free ricotta cheese. A traditional dish made plant based that is super comforting and wholesome!
Servings: 35 Pierogi
Equipment
- rolling pin; kitchen towel; two bowls; cooking pot; a round cookie cutter, ravioli stamp cutter or an up-cycled tin can with a radius of Ø 3inches / 7.5cm
Ingredients
Pierogi dough
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- ½ tablespoons oil
- 150 mililiters warm water
Pierogi ruskie filling
- 200 grams vegan ricotta cheese* for ricotta recipe check recipe notes
- 3 medium cooked potatoes use a potato that is high in starch, like russet or yukon gold
- 2 tablespoons plant milk (eg allmond or oat)
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnish ideas
- vegan yogurt, or vegan sour cream
- fresh herbs or carrot greens chopped
Instructions
Preparing the dough:
- Pour flour into a bowl in a rectangular shape and make a little whole in it, so it looks like a flour volcano. Pour oil into the "volcano" hole. Put your index finger into the hole, making swirls until the flour starts slowly mixing with the oil. It will start to give you these flour-oil chunks.
- Add half of your warm water and mix everything together quickly. Once the first amount of water is kneaded into the flour, add the rest of the water. Once a dough ball has formed, transfer to a floured pastry board to knead. Poles traditionally use a so called "Stolnica" as their pastry board, but a clean countertop works too. Gently knead until soft and elastic, the dough ends up being almost like a Play-Doh-like consistency: firm and springy, but not too dense. Avoid for too long, or the dough will become tough.
- Transfer into a bowl and cover, best with a damp kitchen towel, so it doesn't dry out. Set aside for at least 30 minutes, or until you're ready to prepare the dumplings.
Preparing the filling:
- If not using store bought vegan ricotta, make and prepare your vegan ricotta cheese. Peel and quarter potatoes. Boil potatoes until soft and let cool down. Chop onion into very small pieces and sauté in a frying pan until glassy. Set aside when done.
- Once potatoes are cooled mash them with plant milk in the pot with a potato masher. Once your potatoes are mashed, add sautéed onion and mix together. Then fold in your vegan ricotta. Salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
Rolling, stuffing and shaping:
- Spread out parchment paper and flour it thoroughly - this is where you will place your pierogi once they are filled and formed. Set a damp towel aside and gather your tools: rolling pin and round cutter. Flour your pastry board, or clean countertop. Divide pierogi dough ball into four. Take one fourth and roll out thin onto your floured work surface. It should be around 2mm thick (which is around 1/12 inch). Once rolled out stamp out circles.
- Take a circle in your hand. Spoon 1 - 1 ½ teaspoons of the filling into the middle of the dough circle. Stretch the dough around the filling, basically folding it in half. Don't get the filling up to the edges! Gently push the filling in, because otherwise the pierogi could open up once you boil them. Bring the dough together and pinch the edges really tight together. Always keep a little flour on your fingertips, to prevent the dough from sticking onto your fingers.
- Place the filled pierogi on your parchment paper in one row. Don't stack them, or they may merge together. Cover with the damp kitchen towel until ready to cook. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat until no dough is remaining.
Cooking the pierogi:
- Add water to a big pot, together with 1 tablespoon of oil and salt. Bring to a boil, then add your raw pierogi. Make sure you don't "overcrowd" the pot. This depends a bit on the size of pot you are using, but they should have space to sink and swim up to the surface. Boil pierogi at medium high heat: the water should still bubble, but not aggressively. Once the pierogi swim up and reach the surface of the water, let them boil for another 1 or 2 minutes. Remove pierogi with a slotted spoon. If you want to make sure they're done take one out to taste test. Just be careful since they will be hot! Gently remove boiled pierogi from pot. Don't squeeze or pop them. Place on a slightly buttered platter. Continue until all pierogi are boiled.
- Serve as is, or fry pierogi until golden brown in a pan. If you decide to fry your pierogi add plenty of vegan butter (or oil). Once hot, fry on both sides until crisp.
- Enjoy with dollops of vegan yogurt or sour cream, and garnish with fresh herbs or greens if wished. Smacznego!
Notes
*How do I make vegan ricotta cheese? If you can't find any in your local grocery store I have a super easy to make vegan ricotta recipe for you!