Pierogi 2 (with Sauerkraut and Mushrooms)

As another entrée we had Pierogi filled with Sauerkraut and Mushrooms, this is the typical "christmassy" filling for pierogi in Poland. I absolutely love them, though considering the amount of food there was to eat, I wasn't able to eat too many..

Ingredients for about 30 pierogi

400 g of flour (technically it should be "Maka tortowa", I used regular flour and the dough wasn't as stretchy but manageable)
1 egg
a bit of hot water
1 kg of sauerkraut (kapusta kiszona), might have to be rinsed with water if too salty
1 big onion
10-12 dried  mushrooms (special type of mushrooms, apparently called "boletus" in English or "porcini")
butter
salt and pepper


Start off by making the dough for the pierogi: sift your flour onto your work surface and make a small mould in the middle. Crack the egg into the middle and start combining the flour and the egg. Add hot water (make sure you don't burn your fingers! I add a bit of water, let it cool and then work the dough) until you can form a dough ball that won't stick to your hands anymore.

Roll the dough out thinly, basically as thin as you can to about 2mm. Cut out circles with a glass (pretty big diameter, a pint glass for example):

Then proceed to make your filling. Rinse the sauerkraut if you think it is a bit too salty and cut into small pieces. Cook the dried mushrooms in a bit of hot water, then cut them into pieces as well. Don't throw away the water you cooked them in. Dice the onion. In a big pan, fry off the onion in the butter and then add in the sauerkraut and the water from the mushrooms, as well as the mushrooms. Let it all cook through nicely and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool for a bit.

Spread out your dough circles and place a tablespoon (or a little less) of the filling onto each one.

Then fold one half over and press down firmly. Go over the edge with a fork to make sure it is all sealed in nicely.

Proceed with all of the pierogi in the same way:

Cook them in salted water for about 3 minutes, or until they come up to the surface. If you like, you can fry the pierogi in butter afterwards until they become golden. If not, simply serve as they are and enjoy :)