RataterraFirst edition in progress
My atlas

Searches names, synonyms and regional names, with or without accents.

    Explore the world · Recipe · Poland · Reference page

    Pierogi ruskie

    pierogi ruskie

    Half-moon dumplings of thin dough filled with mashed potato, twaróg (fresh curd cheese) and onion fried in butter, boiled until they float and tossed in more onion. One of Poland's most popular dishes; the quantities are Olivia Andrews's for Feast.

    Five potato-and-cheese pierogi with dill, golden onion butter and sour cream on a white plate.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    40 min
    Cooking
    40 min
    Resting
    15 min
    Total
    1 h 35
    Difficulty
    Moderate

    Equipment

    • Saucepan and potato masher
    • Large frying pan
    • Rolling pin and 9 cm round cutter (or a glass); pastry brush
    • Large saucepan for boiling; slotted spoon
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    • Filling

    • Dough

    • To serve

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Put the potatoes in cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook about 10 minutes until tender. Drain well, mash until smooth and leave to cool.

      Timer · 10 min10:00

    2. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium–high heat and cook the onions, stirring, for 10 minutes until soft and golden. Season and cool.

      Timer · 10 min10:00

    3. For the dough, mix the flour, dill and salt in a bowl, make a well, add the egg and the warm water and mix with a fork, adding a little more water if needed. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Knead 5 minutes until smooth and elastic, divide into 3, cover and rest 15 minutes.

      Timer · 15 min15:00

    4. Mix the cheese into the potato, then a quarter of the onions (lifted out with a slotted spoon). Season well.

      Why The rest of the onions and their butter become the sauce.

    5. Roll each piece of dough 2 mm thick on a floured surface and cut 8 rounds of 9 cm. Put a tablespoon of filling in the centre of each, brush the edge with water, fold over and press out the air. Crimp the edge if you like.

    6. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, reduce to a vigorous simmer and cook the pierogi in 4 batches, about 3 minutes each, until they rise and are cooked through.

      Timer · 3 min3:00

    7. Reheat the remaining onions over low heat, add the pierogi and toss for 1 minute. Serve with sour cream and dill.

    Substitutions

    • Onions in butter → Bacon cracklings (skwarki) with glassy onion, the way the Chrząstawa pierogi on Poland's traditional products list are served.
    • Twaróg → Farmer's cheese or a dry ricotta; a wet cottage cheese makes a loose filling.

    Common mistakes

    • Leaving air pockets: the pierogi split in the water.
    • Boiling too hard: a vigorous simmer is enough.

    Storage & reheating

    Cooked pierogi keep 2 days in the fridge; reheat until steaming hot.

    Safety

    Contains gluten, egg and milk.

    Allergens

    Gluten · Egg · Milk

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    vegetarian

    Ruskie: from the eastern borderlands

    Potato and cheese pierogi are "one of the most popular Polish dishes", in the words of the Polish recipe collection of the National Museum of Ireland. Poland's Ministry of Agriculture lists one local version, the pierogi ruskie of Chrząstawa in Lower Silesia, as a traditional product (entered 21 October 2013). The ministry's entry says settlers from the south-eastern Kresy brought the habit of potato-and-cheese pierogi to Lower Silesia after the Second World War.

    [1][2]

    Thin dough, dry filling

    The filling has only three main ingredients: floury potato mashed smooth, fresh curd cheese and onion cooked slowly in butter. The dough of flour, egg and warm water is rolled thin, cut into rounds and sealed into half-moons. They are boiled until they rise; the Chrząstawa pierogi weigh about 30 g each and are served hot with bacon and onion.

    [3][2][1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Poland In preparation
    • related Kraków In preparation

    Potato

    Continue exploring