QUARK AND POTATO PIEROGIES

Quark and Potato Pierogies image

I've only recently discovered pierogies, but of course I wanted to try making my own. I couldn't find a filling that was exactly what I wanted, so I adapted my own. I got the wrapper recipe from a fantastic cookbook called "A world of dumplings". They make a nice sturdy wrapper, I didn't have any problem with any of my piergoies splitting open when cooking them, and they have a consistancy I loved. I used low-fat sour cream and it worked great.

Provided by ayhlara

Categories Potato

Time 3h15m

Yield 45-50 Pierogies, 6-7 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup sour cream (low-fat or full fat)
1 egg
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 lb Quark
1/4 cup butter
salt
white pepper

Steps:

In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/2 tsp salt, water, sour cream and egg. You may need to add a little extra water if the dough seems too dry, or some extra flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.
Transfer the dough to a floured surface (I find silicon baking mats work amazingly well for this), and knead it for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate it while you prepare the filling.
Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until they are soft. Drain off the water.
Add the Quark and butter to the hot potatoes and mash until mixture is smooth. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Set mixture aside to cool while you roll out your dough.
Divide dough in half, and roll out the first half of the dough to about 1/8 inch thick and cut into 3 inch circles with a round cookie cutter.
Scoop a heaping tablespoon of the potato mixture into the centre of each circle of dough. Fold the dough into a half moon shape around the filling, and firmly pinch edges closed, making sure the the filling does not prevent you getting a good seal.
Set finished pierogies aside on a piece of parchment paper and repeat for the rest of the dough. Gather the extra scraps of dough from between your circles and reroll them for more wrappers.
At this point you can either freeze the pierogies for later or boil them to eat now. To freeze the dumlings, put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze until solid, then transfer to a plastic bag.
To cook the pierogies, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, and then add the perogies in batches - I wouldn't recomend any more the amount that could lie in a single layer at the bottom of the pot. Boil for 6-8 minutes, until dumplings are floating and dough is completely cooked. If you're not sure, cut a pierogies open and see if it looks cooked. To cook from frozen, put the frozen pierogies straight into the pot of boiling water, but add 2-4 minutes to the cooking time.
Serve pierogies warm, with sour cream or fried onions if desired.