Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

 |  Poland

Ingredients

Filling:

• 1 large can (~28 oz.) sauerkraut
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 stick butter
• Salt and pepper

Dough:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• water

Procedure

1. Place sauerkraut and liquid in a pot filled with just enough water to cover the sauerkraut. When it begins to boil, remove from stove and place in a collander then drain and rinse well with cold water to prevent further cooking. With your hands, squeeze as much liquid from the kraut as you can to prevent the pierogi from being too soggy. Place the sauerkraut on a large cutting board and chop fine with a large flat-bladed knife.
2. Fry the onion until it is translucent and then add the drained sauerkraut. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes and let it cool before using. For best results, refrigerate a few hours before filling in pierogi.
3. For the dough, sift and measure flour with salt into a large bowl. Slightly beat egg with fork and add egg to flour, then add enough water to make a pastry dough soft enough to roll out with a rolling pin but not too dry that it spits and cracks. Roll out dough on a floured bread board until about the thickness of a cracker. Use a large rimmed glass or a big biscuit cutter to cut rounds approximately 3"-4" in diameter. Fill each round with a generous spoonful of kraut mixture and fold dough in half. Pinch and seal the edge of the dough with fingers then gently fold and pinch edge to make a ruffled edge with about 1/4" folds. Drop each pierogi dumpling into a large pot of boiling salt water and boil until they float to the top. Remove each carefully with a slotted spoon. Fry the pierogi in a skillet with melted butter until golden brown.
4. Serve warm or cold.

Notes

The boiling step may be omitted if you like really strong sauerkraut.