Pierogis

While my ethnic background is Norwegian,  I enjoy and like to try other ethnic food. Unfortunately, much of the ethnic food from other European countries tends to be made of wheat flour. When I had to quit using grains I started looking around for recipes withe alternative flours, like garbanzo bean flour.  I was looking for something else but accidentally happened upon this recipe for pierogis. The author of the recipe had some limitations that I don't have to address, but it's a good basis for a recipe. 

Pierogis

• 2 cups gluten-free flour (I use one cup each of garbanzo bean flour and tapioca flour)
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup milk (you could use rice milk, soy milk, or nut milk)
• pinch of salt

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the butter in chunks and cut in with a pastry knife or a fork so that the mixture is like coarse corn meal. Add the eggs and milk and mix until the dough forms a ball. 

Meat Filling

• 1 pound hamburger, browned and drained
• 1/2 medium onion (1/2-2/3 cup)
• 1 stalk celery

Leave a little of the grease from the meat in the pan and saute the onion and celery. Put the meat back in and allow it to warm up. Drain again. 


Making the Pierogis

To roll out the dough, put some dough in between two sheets of plastic wrap that have been sprayed with no-stick spray. Roll out the dough to a quarter-inch. cut out two inch circles and roll the circles to a thickness of one-eighth inch. Put 2-3 teaspoons of meat mixture in the center of the circle. Moisten the edge of the dough with water and fold over. 

The nice thing is that with the plastic wrap on the bottom, you can fold it over and crimp it without it sticking dough to your fingers. 

Once you have a batch made, boil water in a medium or large kettle. Boil the pierogis for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the water, and allow them to cool and dry on a towel. Once cool, you can freeze them. 


The pierogis look different after you boil them. They sure taste good, though! Simply fry them in a tablespoon of butter or oil.