Pierogi ruskie with crispy bacon
Dumplings filled with potato, curd cheese and onion, topped with crisp bits of smoked bacon. A favourite in many Polish homes.
- Serves 4
- Prep 1 h 10 min
- Cooking 30 min
Ingredients
- 500 g plain flour
- 250 ml warm water
- 2 tbsp oil
- 600 g floury potatoes
- 250 g twaróg (Polish curd cheese)
- 2 onions
- 1 tbsp butter
- 150 g smoked pork belly
- salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper
- soured cream, to serve (optional)
Method
- Peel the potatoes, boil them in salted water until soft and drain. Press them through a ricer, or mash them well, while they're hot, then leave to cool.
- Finely chop one onion and soften it in the butter. Add it to the potatoes with the crumbled twaróg, season with salt and plenty of pepper and mix well.
- Mix the flour with a pinch of salt and the oil, then gradually add the warm water. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover it with a bowl and leave for 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough out thinly, to about 2 mm, and cut out rounds with a glass. Put a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each, fold in half and pinch the edges firmly together.
- Cook them in batches in a large pan of salted water. Once they float to the top, give them another 2 to 3 minutes, then lift them out with a slotted spoon.
- Finely dice the pork belly and fry it in a frying pan until crisp. Add the second onion, thinly sliced, and cook until golden.
- Spoon the bacon, onion and fat over the pierogi. Serve straight away, with soured cream if you like. Any left over are delicious the next day, fried until golden.