Two Filling Pierogies – Vareniki

As a little girl I used to spend lots of time at my grandparents’ place. Among all the beautiful memories I’ve kept from that time there’s my grandmothers’ cooking. Even now, when I close my eyes, I can still smell and taste all the delicious meals she cooked for us. Vareniki was one of my favorite breakfasts.

It’s hard to imagine any Ukrainian who has never tried these wonderful pierogies a.k.a. vareniki. They can be sweet or savory and come in variety of fillings: potatoes, sauerkraut, cherries, cottage cheese, blueberries just to name a few. The two of my favorite fillings that I will be sharing with you today are potatoes and sauerkraut with caramelized onions.

It’s a perfect meal to make over the weekend with the whole family. I won’t lie it’s a little time consuming, but the outcome is multiple homemade meals stocked in your freezer! Get the kids involved, whether with rolling the dough, cutting out the circles, or sealing the vareniki. Kids love playing with raw dough!

You can prep the filling a day in advance and store in the refrigerator, but don’t forget to have a spoonful of it, because hot mashed potatoes combined with caramelized onion is simply the base of everything meaningful in the world. Are you in love yet? My stomach is happy and so are my skinny jeans and so is my husband. This is a delicious Ukrainian vareniki miracle!

Ingredients (fillings):

5-6 medium potatoes

2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

4 cups sauerkraut

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 tbsp sunflower oil

few bay leaves

Ingredients (dough):

3 cups flour

1 cup cold water

1 egg

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tsp salt

few bayleaves and peppercorns for the water to boil vareniki in

2 tbsp butter

sour cream to garnish (optional)

To prepare the dough, combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and kneed the dough until a smooth dough ball forms, about 10-15 minutes. Cover, and set aside, letting the dough rest until ready to use.

While the dough is resting prepare the filling. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Place potatoes in a medium pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring it to a boil and add salt with bay leaves. Boil the potatoes until soft and easily pierced with fork, about 20 minutes. Then remove from heat and drain. Allow to cool for a few minutes and mash into a smooth mixture. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat 2 skillets with oil over medium high heat and place onions on one and sauerkraut on another skillet. Saute for about 3 minutes, then reduce heat to medium low and cook stirring occasionally until caramelized, about 20 minutes.

Mix 1/3 of the caramelized onions into the mashed potatoes, 1/3 into sauerkraut and leave 1/3 for garnishing.

Time to make vareniki! Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll each portion out into 1/8″ thick over a lightly floured non-stick surface. Using jar top or a small glass cut out the circles of the dough and place 1 teaspoon of the filling on each circle. Then simply fold the edges together and seal pressing tightly.

Repeat to use all the fillings and dough. Place the finished vareniki on a cutting board (make sure they don’t touch each other) dusted with flour until ready to boil or freeze for 1 hour uncovered. Then transfer vareniki into a large plastic bag. They would last for months.

To cook vareniki, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add bay leaves and peppercorns. Place vareniki in boiling water. After they float to the top, cook about 2 to 3 minutes more, then remove them with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Add butter and serve garnished with caramelized onions and sour cream.