Potato and Cheese Dumplings with Buttery Golden Onions
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats, America's Test Kitchen and NYT Cooking.
Soft sour-cream dough is wrapped around a creamy potato, farmer's cheese and golden onion filling, boiled until tender and then fried in butter until spotted gold, served with sour cream and chives.
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Method
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Equipment
- large bowl
- medium saucepan
- potato ricer or masher
- large frying pan (nonstick)
- rolling pin
- 7.5 cm round cutter or a glass
- large wide pan or stockpot
- slotted spoon or spider
- 2 trays and a clean tea towel
- colander
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 768 kcal |
| Protein | 21.5 g |
| Carbohydrate | 89 g |
| of which sugars | 7.9 g |
| of which free sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 36.6 g |
| of which saturates | 20.4 g |
| Fibre | 5.8 g |
| Salt | 2.08 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.8 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
Metric · 4 servings
Dough
- 300 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 3 g fine sea salt or table salt about ½ tsp
- 1 large egg
- 150 g full-fat sour cream
- 30 g unsalted butter, very soft
- 2 tbsp cold water (up to 4 tbsp if needed)
Filling
- 450 g floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper or russet), peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced about 300 g
- 170 g farmer's cheese (twaróg) or well-drained cottage cheese
- 40 g mature cheddar, finely grated
- 3 g fine sea salt or table salt about ½ tsp
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
To serve
- 20 g unsalted butter
- 120 g full-fat sour cream
- 2 tbsp chopped chives
- 1
Mix the dough. Whisk the flour and dough salt in the large bowl, add the egg and mix with a fork until clumpy. Work in the sour cream and soft butter with your fingertips to a rough, slightly sticky ball, adding the water 1 tbsp at a time only if dry flour remains. Knead for 3-4 min on a lightly floured surface until smooth and soft, then wrap and rest for 30 min at room temperature (or up to 24 h in the fridge, bringing it back to room temperature for 20 min before rolling). Resting relaxes the gluten, so the dough rolls thin without springing back.
- 2
Cook the onions. Melt the 30 g filling butter in the frying pan over medium heat, add the onions and cook for 15-20 min, stirring often, until soft and deep golden. Turn the heat down if they brown too quickly. Slow cooking draws out their natural sugars for a sweet, rich flavour.
- 3
Boil and mash the potatoes. Put the potatoes in the saucepan, cover with cold unsalted water by 2-3 cm and bring to the boil. Simmer for 12-15 min until a knife slides in with no resistance, then drain well and leave to steam dry in the colander for 2 min. Rice or mash them smoothly while hot; hot potato cells break apart cleanly, giving a smooth rather than gluey mash.
- 4
Finish the filling. Stir in the cheeses, filling salt, pepper and half the onions, keeping the rest for serving. Spread the mixture on a plate and cool completely, about 30 min. Warm filling softens the dough and makes it tear.
- 5
Roll and fill. Cut the dough in half, keeping one half wrapped, and roll the other on a lightly floured surface to 2 mm thick. Cut 7.5 cm rounds, place a heaped tablespoon (about 17 g) of filling in the centre of each, fold into a half-moon and pinch the edges firmly from one end to the other, pressing out any air; crimp with a fork if you like. Trapped air expands in the boiling water and can burst the seams.
- 6
Repeat and reroll. Set the pierogi on a floured tray in a single layer under a tea towel. Gather the scraps, rest them for 5 min and reroll once, then repeat with the second half of dough. You should end up with about 40, using up all the filling.
- 7
Boil in batches. Bring a large pan of unsalted water to a rolling boil and lower in 10-12 pierogi at a time, stirring gently once so none stick. Once they float, cook for 2-3 min more until the dough edges are tender; cut into one to check the edge is soft, not chewy. Lift out with the slotted spoon onto a tray in a single layer.
- 8
Fry and serve. Reheat the reserved onions with the 20 g serving butter in the frying pan over medium heat. Add the pierogi in batches and fry for 2-3 min per side until golden in spots. Serve hot, about 10 per person, topped with the onions, with sour cream and chives.
Storage
Cool within 2 hours, refrigerate for up to 3 days and reheat by pan-frying in a little butter until piping hot (74°C). Freeze uncooked pierogi on a tray, then bag them, for up to 3 months; boil from frozen, adding 2-3 min.
