Gluten Free Pierogi Ruskie
The Story:
Growing up in Northern New Jersey exposed me to a wide variety of foreign and fusion cuisines from our diverse immigrant communities. My aunt learned how to make pierogies from her Czech mother-in-law, and my hometown had a small Polish cafe that made all kinds of pierogies. I quickly fell in love with these filled dumplings as a kid, and I never met a filling that I didn't love, savory or sweet. When I discovered my gluten allergy, I thought I'd never eat a pierogi again - and indeed I didn’t for about 8 years. Until recently, the closest place I could find that sold gluten free pierogies was all the way out in Pittsburgh, and while I do love a good pierogi, I am not about to drive 8 hours to get them. So, when I was spending my 2020 quarantine days pining for the foods that I had experienced in my childhood and in my travels abroad, I decided to figure out how to make pierogies myself so I could bring this childhood favorite into my adult life. It took much trial and error to land on a recipe that works - back then, nobody online was doing it yet. I had even looked up Polish language recipe blogs thinking they were more likely to have figured it out, but to no avail. Thus, I had to try to adapt the regular, glutenous recipes to work with gluten free flour. It took many tries, but I finally landed on something that works well, and now I make them a few times a year. Thankfully there are now 2 restaurants right here in Philly that have a selection of gluten free pierogies for when I’m too lazy to make my own, but nothing is better than home-made, and I am excited to share this recipe with you!
Tips and tricks:
The Flour
Trust me, I’ve tried them all, and even made my own blends. The best is King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour- the flavor and color are closest to wheat flour, and the resulting dough is less prone to pulling apart.
Adding a bit of cassava flour, psyllium husk, and xanthan gum improves the dough’s stretchability even more. Too much of them will give the dough a gooey quality, though, so be careful!
Working with the dough
Always keep a bowl of water next to you as you work to dip your fingers in - gluten free dough dries out fast, a quick dip before re-kneading is a great way to re-hydrate it.
Resting for about 30 minutes will improve elasticity, but it is not as important as it is for wheat dough.
Because the dough dries out so fast, it is best to roll it out in small sections - I typically divide it into palm-sized pieces and roll each out when I'm ready to use it.
Keep the rolling pin and the counter well-floured to keep the dough from sticking.
If the dough tears while assembling a pierogi, you can repair it by rubbing some water around the opening, dipping it in flour, and dabbing with some more water to make a paste. Larger tears can be patched with a dab of water and a dough scrap.
Always smear a ring of water around the dough disk before closing it around the filling, or the two sides will not stick together.
The Filling
Always use less filling than you think you need! The gluten free dough will not stretch in your hand the way glutenous dough will, so it’s important to right-size the blob of filling. Start small, and slowly get bigger until you get a feel for how much filling your dough disks can take.
Storage
These are labor intensive, and they take hours, so I usually set aside an entire sunday to make several dozen pierogies and freeze them. I lay them out on a floured baking sheet and put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes, ensuring that none are touching so they don’t stick together. By the time the next tray is full, the first tray will be frozen enough to transfer to a freezer bag without them sticking. They can keep like this for 4-6 months.
I do not boil them before freezing, but you can. When I want to eat them, I just transfer them directly from the freezer to gently boiling water and cook for about 8 minutes.
Filling
The beauty of pierogies is that you can fill them with anything you want. I have tried everything from apple pie filling to beef stew to corned beef and cabbage, you just can’t go wrong. I do keep coming back to the same 3 recipes though; Beef and Carrot, Ruskie, Beef and Cabbage. Whatever filling you try, make sure it is chopped quite fine so it can uniformly fill the dough without air pockets.
Products:
King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour:
Cassava Flour:
Psyllium Husk Powder:
Xanthan Gum:
Supplies:
Rolling pin
2 mixing bowls
Circular Cookie cutter or round drinking glass
Fork
Baking sheet
Large cutting board or other large work surface
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cassava flour
2 tbsp. Melted butter
2 tbsp. Water
1 tsp. Salt
1 egg
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 tsp. Psyllium Husk
Filling:
1 russet potato
3 strips bacon, cooked and finely chopped
½ cup Farmers cheese, cottage cheese, quark, or grated mild cheddar
½ tbsp Black pepper
Salt to taste
Optional: sour cream
Directions:
Filling
Boil the potato until fork tender. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl, mash the potato
Mix in the rest of the filling ingredients, including the bacon drippings.
Taste test for seasoning, add more salt and pepper as needed.
Add water to mixture if it’s too dry - it should be a thick Mashed Potato consistency.
Transfer to the refrigerator to cool while making the dough.
Dough
Microwave the butter and water in a mug for about 30 seconds, or until butter is melted and water is steaming. Do not boil.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients.
Slowly drizzle in the hot water/butter mixture into the dry ingredients, vigorously mixing with a fork.
Mix with the fork until dry and wet ingredients are as incorporated as you can get them. The mixture will be quite crumbly at this stage.
Once mixture has cooled to be comfortable to touch, add the egg and knead until a homogenous dough forms.
If dough is sticky, add 1 tbsp. of all-purpose flour at a time until you achieve a dough that holds together and does not stick to the kneading surface.
If dough is crumbly, wet one hand and knead again. Repeat until you achieve a dough that holds together and does not crack when you push your finger into it.
Optional - allow dough to rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Add a few drops of water afterward and re-knead if the outside has dried out.
Assembling the Pierogies
Break off a palm-sized ball of dough and roll out on a well-floured work surface to the thickness of a cooked Lasagna sheet. Set the rest aside.
Using a round cookie cutter or a drinking glass, cut out as many disks as the dough sheet will allow. Knead scraps back into the rest of the dough and set disks aside.
Take a disk of dough, and gently roll it out to elongate the shape into a slight oval.
Lay the disk over your fingers on your non-dominant hand, and dab water in a ring around the perimeter.
Lay a small blob of filling in the middle of the disk
While holding the disk in your non-dominant hand, fold the disk over the filling with your dominant hand so the shorter ends meet, and pinch the edges of the 2 sides together to create the classic half-moon shape. Be sure to push out any air before you finish sealing it up.
Lay the finished pierogi aside on a floured surface.
Repeat steps 3-7 until you run out of disks.
Repeat steps 1-8 until you run out of dough. Add a couple drops of water to the dough before rolling it out each time to keep it from drying out.
For serving right away - bring a pot of water to a gentle boil, add pierogies to water, and stir for the first 30 seconds so they do not stick. Boil for 6 minutes.
For serving later - lay them out on a floured baking sheet and freeze, then transfer to a freezer bag. When ready to eat, gently boil for 8 minutes.
Optional - Saute boiled pierogies with chopped onion in butter for 3-5 minutes each side before serving.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream
