Classic Pierogi Dough
Pierogi are the national food of Poland; here's the recipe for its dough foundation.
Ingredients
- 3 cups wheat flour
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup water (boiled)
- 1/4 cup water (cold)
- 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Pour the flour through a sifter and into the mixing bowl. Add a half a teaspoon of salt and the egg (egg is optional).
- Pour the 3/4 cup boiling water slowly into the bowl, while stirring the mixture around with a whisk. Try to remove as many lumps in the batter as possible.
- Cover the bowl for five minutes and wait. Wash some dishes or something if you have nothing better to do. After 5 minutes, add the quarter-cup of cold water, and let it sit for 15 more minutes; wash some more dishes.
- Add the 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil and knead the dough for a few minutes.
- With a rolling pin, roll the dough on a flat surface until it is uniformly about 3 mm thick.
- Cut circles out of dough; using a large cup or small bowl is an excellent replacement for a circle-cutter.
- Find a pierogi recipe and filling you enjoy and make some Polish dumplings!
Notes
- Replacing much of the water with milk (anywhere from a quarter to three-quarters of the amount of water) makes the dough taste sweeter and gives it a velvety texture, perfect for making dessert pierogi or pierogi-filled with cheese.
- Glue pierogi together by moistening half of the edge of a dough circle with some water,folding it together, and then pinching it shut.
- Polish pierogi recipes rarely call for eggs, because it makes the finished product more hard and tough, as opposed to the soft dough that is common, which is why we leave the egg as optional.