Polish Pierogi Ruskie or Dumplings

Today I am introducing Polish pierogi ruskie or dumplings with a potato and cream cheese filling! Recently I have had a craving for some of the Ukrainian, Russian, or Polish dishes my grandmothers used to serve. Neither of them are still alive. Thinking back, I have to say, I don’t even know how they did it. Many times when we came to visit, there would be a large family gathering with more than 15 people, yet they would always serve homemade food such as pelmeni, vareniki or pierogi. All of these require a lot of work and are dumplings that need to be formed by hand. I needed half an hour for two people, you can probably imagine how much time it took them for the amount of people visiting. My favorite are either pierogi or vareniki, which are either filled with cream cheese only or cream cheese with potatos. So today I am giving you the traditional pierogi ruskie.

Unfortunately, neither of my grandmothers wrote down the recipe for these delicious dumplings, they had memorized it and often added ingredients if they felt it was necessary. I find it amazing how this generation always produced such delicious meals without a scale or a recipe book at hand. I know that the many years of experience probably helped, but that can’t be the only reason. Regardless, below are my personal tips of how to make these extra delicious.

• Since these dumplings are made with flour, I recommend allowing the dough to rest for at least half an hour. My grandmothers often prepared the dough in the morning before breakfast and started forming the pierogi during lunchtime (main meal usually at noon). The dough will become more elastic and is easier to form. This in turn means that there are fewer chances for the dumplings to open up in the water.
• I recommend using all-purpose flour, or if you have, bread flour. The higher amount of gluten will result in a more elastic dough.
• Feel free to prepare the filling also the night before. The taste will become stronger and you have less to worry about. Cover tightly and chill in the fridge.
• Only roll out about 1/4 of the dough at once and immediately fill and seal the dumplings. Otherwise the dough may start to stick or will open later on in the water.
• If you want to prepare the entire batch the night before, be sure to generously flour the plate you are keeping them on. Believe me, nothing is worse than scratching of the prepared pierogis from the plate and creating holes while doing so. This will end in desaster.
• I personally enjoy Slavic dumplings such as vareniki, pelmeni and pierogi if briefly fried once you take them out of the water. Since these classic pierogis are very mild in flavor, I like to fry some bacon and chopped onions to give them some extra flavor and give them some crunch.
• Sour cream, sour cream, sour cream. I know for a fact that both of my grandmothers served sour cream with all these dumplings. In fact, one even made a sauce with it, so I cannot imagine eating pierogi ruskie without sour cream. But I do know that this is a personal preference.
• Pierogi are easy to freeze. Just put them loosely on on a floured plate into the freezer for 15 minutes and then transfer to a bag or other container and freeze solid. They need a bit more time in the water, but that’s the only difference.

Credit: Caros Küche (in German)

Print Recipe

Polish Pierogi Ruski

Serves: About 40, depending on size

Prep Time: 1 1/2 hrs – Cooking Time: A few minutes – Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs

These Polish pierogi are a dumpling filled with the traditional potatos and cream cheese filling.

Ingredients

• Filling
• 400 grams of potatoes
• 1 medium-sized onion
• Some butter
• 275 grams of Polish twarog or Russian tvorog, if you don't find any, use cream cheese
• 1 teapoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 
  
• Dough
• 100-130 grams of lukewarm water
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of oil
• 300 grams of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of salt
• 
  
• Additionally:
• 2 medium-sized onions
• 200 grams of bacon
• Sour cream
• Chive

Instructions

1

For the filling peel and cut the potatoes into cubes and boil in salted water until soft. Meanwhile cube the onions and fry in some butter until translucent. As soon as the potatoes are soft, discard the water and mash. Add the prepared onions, cream cheese, salt, and pepper and mix everything. Set aside.

2

For the dough put water, egg, and oil in a large kneading bowl and mix briefly with a fork, then add flour and salt. Either need with a machine for about 7 minutes or by hand for ten. The dough should become elastic. depending on the flour and the environment, you may need to add further water. The dough should rest for at least half an hour or overnight if tightly covered.

3

Roll out about 1/4 of the dough on a floured surface. Make sure to turn once in a while and flour in between. Using a cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass, cut out circles of 9cm in Diameter. Place the cut-out circles into your palm and fill with about 1-2 teaspoons of the filling. First seal with your hands, later prick with a fork. It is important that the pierogi are properly sealed and do not open in the water. Repeat until you have all filling used up and no dough left. You can prepare them in adance, I would recommend flouring the surface and covering them in the fridge.

4

Meanwhile bring a large pot with water to boil and add salt. Add about half of the pierogir and wait until they float on the top. Cut the two onions into cubes and fry with the bacon. Add the drained pierogi and fry for a few minutes to brown the outside. Serve with sour cream and chive.