Cabbage Pierogi
A hearty comfort food filled with caramelized cabbage and bacon
Equipment
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 tbsp butter
Filling Ingredients
- 2 heads Green Cabbage
- 1 lb bacon (I used thick cut.)
- salt to taste
Instructions
Pierogi dough instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, mix the ingredients at low speed.
- As the dough ingredients combine, they will begin to form a ball around the dough hook. You are looking for a slightly sticky, very smooth dough. After 2-4 minutes, the dough may still look a little rough, but should still be quite moist in the middle.
- Continue mixing for another 3-7 minutes, until the ball is smooth and only a little sticky.
- Note: If the dough is still very dry after the first 2-4 minutes, add 1 tbsp of water to the bowl and continue mixing. Mix for 30 seconds to 1 minute after adding the water, and the consistency should improve. You can repeat this 3-4 times if needed.
- Note: If the dough is too wet and is struggling to form a smooth ball, add about 1 tbsp of flour and continue mixing for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The dough should begin to smooth out. Continue adding flour in small increments until the dough is smooth.
- If you don’t have a stand mixer, combine all ingredients in a bowl and knead by hand for 5-7 minutes, or until the dough is a smooth ball.
- Finally, once the dough is a smooth, slightly sticky ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 48 hours.
Cabbage Filling instructions
- Start by coring your cabbage heads and removing the outer layers of leaves. Chop the cabbage into approximately 1cm squares. Take care to chop down any large pieces or stragglers. Rinse the chopped cabbage in a colander.
- Chop your bacon into 1/2cm wide slices. This can be done thawed or partially frozen.
- Chop an onion into 1cm squares.
- Start by frying your sliced bacon. You’ll likely have to work in batches, first frying the slices and then removing them to a paper towel on a plate. In between batches, drain off the fat from the pan to a bowl. The bacon fat will be used later when frying the cabbage.
- Once done with the bacon, add the onions to the pan. Add a little bacon fat if needed. Salt liberally (the onions will be mixed with all of the cabbage.)
- Once the onions are translucent (3-4 minutes), add as much cabbage as the pan will hold. Add enough bacon grease to lightly cover the bottom of the pan (a few tablespoons). Stir the cabbage and let it fry.
- After 3-5 minutes, flip the cabbage and continue frying.
- After another 3-5 minutes, the cabbage should have cooked down significantly. The cabbage pieces should be turning translucent and caramelize. If the cabbage has not begun to caramelize, continue frying.
- Once the cabbage is sufficiently cooked down and carnalizing, add more cabbage to refill the pan. Repeat the frying process until you are out of cabbage.
- If your pan becomes too full to add more cabbage, offload the fried cabbage to a large mixing bowl and continue frying.
- Once all of the cabbage is fried and in a mixing bowl, add the bacon and mix it all together. You can let the cabbage filling rest in the fridge while you get everything else ready.
Filling the Pierogi
- Cut your pierogi dough into quarters to make it easier to roll out. Keep the unused sections wrapped up and in the fridge while working, to avoid drying out the dough.
- Lightly flour a large, flat work surface (a counter top or large, heavy cutting board work best for this).
- Using a rolling pin, roll your dough out until it’s about ¼ inch thick. Make sure to lift and flip your dough a few times early on when you’re rolling it to prevent it from sticking to your work surface.
- Using a small bowl or ramekin about 4 inches in diameter, cut out circles in the dough for pierogies. Reform any leftover cutouts into a ball and roll it back out to make more dough circles.
- Place a dough circle in your palm, and fill it with cabbage bacon filling. You should need 3ish tablespoons of filling per pierogi, and it should look like it fills about half the dough.
- Using your free hand, grab both sides of the pierogi, and fold them up to cradle the filling. If you need to, press the filling down into the pierogi.
- Form a seal around the lip of the pierogi about 1cm wide. You should be able to stretch the dough a little as needed. Pinch the seal to form it.
- Use a fork to press a pattern into the pierogi seal. This will help you identify the type of pierogi as well as keep the seal intact. If making other fillings, vary this pattern by filling type.
Freezing Instructions
- Lay each pierogi out side by side on pans with some parchment paper or foil underneath. Your pierogies should not really touch each other until they’re frozen.
- Freeze the trays. If you have to stack trays, use offsets so that the lower pierogies don't get smashed. `
- After the pierogies are frozen solid, bag them into freezer bags.
Cooking Instructions
- You can start with either frozen or thawed pierogi. If thawed they’ll cook much faster, but the method is the same.
- Heat cooking oil in a pan on high heat. Use enough oil to almost cover the bottom of the pan in a thin layer.
- Once the oil is heated, place the pierogies in the oil and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- With a lid for the pan ready, pour ¼ cup of water into the pan, and then cover the pan immediately. The pan should steam immediately. Continue cooking until the steam stops, about 3-5 minutes.
- Open the lid and flip the pierogies. Add additional oil if none is left in the pan. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add another ¼ cup of water and close the lid. Cook this side of the pierogies for another 3-5 minutes, or until the steam stops.
- Repeat the process until the pierogies are at least 120F inside.
Notes
Calories are for 1 pierogi