Pierogi. Eastern Europe’s contribution to the world’s dumpling party. If you like dumplings, you’ll love pierogi. If you don’t like dumplings, there’s something wrong with you.
It’s believed that the idea of dumplings came from China, through the great Asiatic steppes and into Europe. This may well be true, given that pierogi are a lot like Chinese potstickers. There are records of Pierogi in Poland back to the 1200s, and even back then one of the main fillings was mushrooms.
Wild Mushroom Tips
You’ll find many more articles on identifying, processing and cooking wild mushrooms here!
I am betting at least some of these shrooms go into homemade pierogi, or piroshki, which is a Russian dumpling a bit more bready, like an empanada.
This pierogi recipe is great to make when you have only a few of each sort of edible mushroom, too, as you’re going to chop them anyway. Got a few morels and a couple dryad’s saddle? Maybe one porcino and a bunch of pine spikes or chanterelles? Go for it.
Don’t pick mushrooms? No problem.
Mix and match supermarket mushrooms. I like using those “chef’s sampler” packets for pierogi. Or just use common button mushrooms. It’s a dumpling, people. Do what you like.
You can eat them however you want, but I strongly urge you to boil them until they float, then fry them in lots of unsalted butter.
Serve your mushroom pierogi with caramelized onions, a big dollop of sour cream and some dill, washed down with a dark beer. Then you will understand why they’ve been making these things for 800 years.
Mushroom Pierogi
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 500 grams of all-purpose flour, about 4 cups
- A pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 240 mililiters of water, about 1 cup
- 1/4 cup sour cream
FILLING
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms
- 1/2 ounce dried mushrooms, rehydrated
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley or dill
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dough by mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Knead the dough until it comes together as a sift, silky dough, about 5 minutes. Cover in plastic wrap and let the dough sit on the counter for an hour or so. You can refrigerate it up to 2 days.
- To make the filling, chop the fresh and dried mushrooms and add them to a large saute pan with the minced onions. Turn the heat to medium-high and saute until the mushrooms give up their water, about 2 to 5 minutes depending on the mushroom. Salt them well. When the water from the mushrooms has almost evaporated, add the butter and saute until everything begins to brown, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
- Add the contents of the pan to a food processor, along with the dill or parsley. Buzz to make a fine crumble, but not a paste. You want some texture in the filling. Put the contents of the food processor in a bowl and mix well with breadcrumbs. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- To make the pierogi, roll the dough out by hand -- it's too soft for a pasta roller.
- And you don't want it too thin, either. About 1/8 inch is good. The reason is you stretch the dough when you make the pierogi.
- I use pastry cutters to make my pierogi, but you can use a glass or you can cut out squares. How wide is up to you. I used a 3-inch round, which makes smallish pierogi that are a bit more like potstickers in size. Everyone's pierogi are different shapes and sizes, so go for whatever floats your boat.
- Take the round of dough and stretch it a little evenly all around, like you would with pizza dough. It doesn't have to be too stretched out, but a little helps. Hold the dough in the palm of your "off" hand. Put a teaspoon, tablespoon or whatever seems to fit in the center of the dough -- you can fill pierogi more than you can with Italian pasta dough because it's so flexible.
- Fold the dough over the filling. I start at the center and work towards an edge, stretching and pinching the dough at the rim of the dumpling as I go. Finish by sealing the other edge. Set the dumpling on your well-floured surface and seal it tight by crimping with the tines of a fork. Set your finished pierogi on a baking sheet that you've dusted with either semolina flour or cornmeal.
- Pierogi are pretty moist, so they don't do too well stored uncooked, unless you freeze them right away. To freeze, put the baking sheet in the freezer (or a plate if the whole sheet won't fit), then, when they are frozen, you can put them in a freezer bag. Normally I cook pierogi shortly after making them.
- You can either simply boil your pierogi until they float -- I give them another minute once they float, too -- or you can double cook them, which is what I prefer. To do this, boil until they float, then fry in lots of butter. Serve with caramelized onions, sour cream and dill.
We have lots o ‘Pierogi’ types in Poland.
– with mushrooms and cabbage
– with potatoes and white cheese
– with meat
– with spinach
– with blueberries
– with banana and chocolate
and many others …
I love these for using up my second string mushrooms like lobsters
My ciocia Helen made her dough without the use of sour cream – interesting. Will have to try it this way.
She didn’t use a fork to seal them – used farmer’s cheese and potatoes inside as most of our family are fungiphobes (save for me – I pick locally). She would boil them and then just top them with butter and sour cream. Me? I stuff mine with mushrooms, farmer’s cheese, boil, fry in butter and then top with sour cream.
The caramelized onions are called “skwoarkay” (pronunciation) in Ukranian, they are chopped onions fried in pork fat, sometimes with some chopped pork meat, common to Polish folks too. All slavic peoples had some form of animal fat cooked with fruit or vegetable as a condiment: Deutsch have greben-schmaltz, pork fat rendered and having crackly fat, nice spread on bread; Jewish people saute diced apples in chicken fat. Grandma never used to seal her perogy edges with a fork, she just pressed the edges together with her fingers, I remember watching her doing this with a cigarette hanging out o her mouth. We rarely fried our perogies, they were just served hot from being boiled in the pot, not filled with mushrooms, filled with potato/cottage cheese or sauerkraut. Ukranian, Polish and Czech people like to eat Honey Mushrooms common in the fall, but they also enjoy Morels, Chanterelles and Lobster Mushrooms. Just because the other foragers have a foreign language, don’t call them Russian. Its like calling a Canadian an American or an Aussie a Brit, possibly even more of an insult.
Made them last night! Amazing. Used baby bellas and chantrelles… very tasty.
I didn’t chill the dough, left on the counter. Will chill next time as the dough is resting. I also need to make my rolled out dough a bit thinner – some of the pressed edges were a little too thick for me.
These look great. One question: under pastas you recommend the general rule of 1 egg for 100g of flour. I have seen pierogi recipes with the same ratio, why is this one different?
Vincent: Because it is. 😉 Seriously, the ratio is just a guide. I wanted a more flexible, soft dough here that I could form more easily.
Hank,
I’ve been wanting to make pierogis with some of the skinless duck breasts that accrue in my freezer every duck season, and after reading this I’ve decided duck and wild mushroom pierogis sound awesome! Do you have any ideas on how much chopped our ground duck to add to your mushroom mix, and anything else to toss in that would add to the flavors?
Ben: That’s a whole different recipe. Not sure, but maybe start with 1/2 pound of finely diced or ground duck meat?
These were awesome, don’t use fresh water to make the dough, instead use the water left from rehydrating your dried mushrooms. Every little bit of flavour helps. This recipe would be great to do out in the woods.
David: Good idea, but it will darken the pierogi dough. Just aesthetics, but I like the color contrast.
Cooked this one last night, fantastic! Hello from Tasmania.
And now I have to go and make some. I am Polish and grew up with mushroom and meat pierogi, never potato ones. This brings back enough memories I am going to the kitchen now. If I have enough dough leftover maybe I will make some blueberry ones for dessert, drizzled with sweetened heavy cream… mouth watering, have to cook now.
We have a pierogi pincher that makes it even easier. We have single one and one that makes 16 pierogi at a time. It’s great!
I could absolutely taste those pierogis as I read through your post, and that last photo sealed the deal, I need to make these. I love dumplings, who doesn’t? And I’ve never tried making this particular version, can’t wait!
Sara: I bet you can find a vegan pierogi dough on the internet somewhere, and for the filling, sub in sunflower oil for the butter.
Ron: Love the salt pork idea!
Well, I don’t have wild mushrooms, or any mushrooms for that matter, but these look so amazing that I am making a batch of potato-cheddar right now. Litterally took me about 5 minutes after reading this to get in the kitchen and start cooking. Maybe the fact that I’m 6 months pregnant had something to do with the insatiable urge. Either way, thanks for the inspiration! Absolutely love your site.
My mother-in-law is first generation Ukranian/American. Pierogi were one of her favorite foods. There is nothing wrong with serving pierogi straight from the boiling, though I agree frying adds something more than just calories. My mother in law used to rhapsodize about chopping salt pork and frying the pierogi on the resulting fat. Serve with sour cream and the cracklings scatters on top. Special pierogi molds are available to speed making larger batches.
I hate to ask but do you know of a vegan version of your pierogi recipe? My husband and I have food allergies (egg and dairy) but I’d love to try pierogis. We love mushrooms and these sound amazing.
The frying is what really sells it.
I’ve seen my dad prepare potstickers by cooking them in a pan with a layer of water and oil. The dumplings steam/simmer until the water evaporates, and then they continue to fry in the oil in the same pan.
Boiling will cause the thin skins of some potstickers to disintegrate