I love a good kitchen shortcut.
Especially one that makes traditional pierogi so light and delicate, I can eat twice as many.
Guys. TWICE as many!
The secret is pre-made wonton wrappers. If you’ve ever made real-deal pierogi, you’d know preparing, rolling and cutting the dough is at least half the battle.
The circular wonton wrappers look a bit more pierogi-like, but i couldn’t find them so triangle pierogi it is. Shockingly, they taste the same. ;p
This recipe is lightly adapted from one of my favourite cookbooks – Bonnie Stern’s Friday Night Dinners. If I haven’t mentioned I love Bonnie Stern before, I will now. I love her. There. She writes a terrific column in the National Post and I just love her food vibe. She uses fresh, often seasonal, high quality ingredients and simple cooking techniques to make her recipes just shine. Bright like a diamond.
These pierogi are a perfect example. The humble potato and onion are transformed into perfect little pockets of savoury, sweet and smokey.
The photo above is meant to show you my tear-free onion chopping technique! Set your chopping board up next the stove, turn on the exhaust fan, turn on a burner (no need to be cooking anything) and chop those babies to your heart’s content. The heat and exhaust fan will draw away all of the offending fumes and your eyes will remain clear and bright throughout dinner prep! Booya.
Speaking of onions. Caramelizing them is just the bee’s knees isn’t it? Sometimes I’ll take a bag of onions and caramelize them on the weekend with nothing in particular planned for them. I’ll use them throughout the week in sandwiches, salads, pastas, on pizza or whatever calls for a little extra some’n some’n. They make these pierogi.
Yukon gold potatoes have a beautiful, smooth buttery texture. I used a large whisk to ‘mash’ them.
Once you have a nice little work station prepped, you’ll be done in no time.
Type-A much?
Enjoy these. They’re a damn delight.
Erin
Short-cut Pierogi
Ingredients
- 1 ½lb yukon gold potatoes (peeled and cut into chunks)
- 6 Small onions (peeled and sliced)
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt (divided)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 Large egg
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Approximately 50wonton wrappers (400g package)
Directions
1. | In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes in cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes until very tender. |
2. | Meanwhile, in a deep skillet, heat canola oil over medium high heat. Add onions and ½ tsp salt. Stir occasionally as onions start to brown, scraping any brown bits off bottom of skillet as you go. If pan is dry, add 1 Tbsp water at a time. Cook for 20-25 minutes until onions are a deep brown colour. |
3. | Remove ½ cup browned onions from skillet and chop. Drain potatoes well and mash along with onions, butter, egg, remaining salt and pepper. |
4. | On a clean, dry surface lay out wonton wrappers (10-12 at a time; cover remaining ones with a slightly damp cloth while you work). Place 1½ tsp of potato filling in the centre of each wrapper. Dab a little water around edge of each wrapper and fold over to make a triangle. Press edges together to seal them. Transfer to parchment lined baking sheet. At this point, you can freeze them if desired. Allow them to freeze on baking sheet and transfer to a freezer bag once frozen. |
5. | To cook pierogi, bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook in 2 batches for 4-5 minutes. In a separate skillet, reheat remaining onions. Transfer boiled, drained pierogi to skillet and toss gently to combine. Serve over your favourite baby greens alongside sour cream or greek yogurt. |
Alison says
What is the nutrition info for this?
Erin & Dara says
Hi Alison! Thanks for visiting. We don’t include nutrition breakdown for our recipes. Our hope is that people focus on the pleasurable qualities of food and eating together as much possible, rather than counting numbers.