Whenever I read the word “Pierogi” in English, I still think “Pirozhki” – Russian/Ukrainian deep fried or baked pies with various fillings, usually made with sour/yeast dough. However, in English pierogi means dumplings. We love them. We love making them, we love eating them.

Here’s a simple recipe for Pierogi with Mashed Potato Filling that I often make. 

Dough:

Water

Flour

Salt (just a few pinches)

I never really measure and just make enough dough. You can always freeze the dumplings for later!

Filling:

Few potatoes

Butter

Finely chopped onions

Salt

Dry or freshly chopped parsley and dill

Peel and cut potatoes into pieces. Boil till soft. Mash, add butter, salt to taste, parsley and dill. Mix well – the filling is ready!

Take pieces of dough and roll into big circles. Using a small glass or cup cut out the small circles by turning it upside down and pressing the upper party into the dough.  Add some filling into the middle, keeping edges free. Pinch the edges together. It is important to secure them well so when you boil your pierogi/dumplings they don’t fall apart!

To cook the pierogi: put water in a large pot on the stove, bring it to boil, add some salt and desired herbs. One by one put the dumpling into the boiling water, while also stirring them so the don’t get stuck to the bottom. Cover, lower the fire and bring them to boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, drain, add butter and they are ready to eat! 

Your options for dressing could be just melted butter, mayo or sour cream. Yummy! 

You can also make all sorts of fillings: saurkraut, saurkraut with minced meat, minced meat and potatoes, cottage cheese, shredded cabbage and carrots…You name it! Just experiment and find what you and your child would like the most! Back home we would make few varieties of pierogis and freeze them for later. They are kept well in the freezer at -18C or lower for 2-4 months.

Enjoy and let me know how they came out!