Pierogi polskie

March 2020

24 pieces. A starter for 4 people (or a main dish for 2). Preparation time approx. 50 minutes.

• 250 grams of flour
• 1 egg
• 15 grams of butter at room temperature + a little extra
• 75 ml of lukewarm water
• 125 grams of cubed bacon
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 200 grams of Twaróg (Polish cheese from a Polish shop)
• 250 grams of floury, boiled potatoes
• Flat-leaf parsley
• Ground pepper and salt

Put the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Break an egg in the well. Add the butter and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir the flour, bit by bit, into the egg with 2 fingers. Add the water bit by bit and knead well into a smooth dough that is no longer sticky.
Fry the bacon cubes. After 5 minutes, add the chopped onion and fry gently for 10 minutes. Put the Twaróg in a bowl and press fine. Mash the potatoes. Add the mashed potato with half the fried onions and the bacon cubes to the Twaróg. Knead well together. Season well with salt and pepper. Make 24 balls the size of a walnut. Roll out the dough balls to approx. 3 cm. Cut out circles with a large glass. Moisten the edges with water. Place a ball of the filling on top, fold in half and press down the edges.
Prepare 24 dumplings in this way and keep them under a damp tea towel. Bring ample water to the boil with plenty of salt. Add the dumplings one by one until the bottom is largely covered. Boil the dumplings until they float to the surface (2 minutes). Remove from the pan with a skimmer and allow to drain. Boil them in batches. Melt a knob of butter in the rest of the fried bacon with onion and serve over the dumplings with some sprigs of flat-leaf parsley.

Tip: You can prepare the dumplings a day in advance and warm them when required in the butter with bacon and fried onions.

Ingrid van den Arend, Cook it!

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