One of the comfort foods I grew up with was perogies - my Mother's German and Russian heritage meant a lot of savory, stick-to-your-ribs (and other body parts) cooking! Of course, my Mom and her siblings were long and lean like super models - they were active and helped on the farm so they could burn it all off :) Most of us today are much more calorie conscious!
As a vegan, I was missing the succulent, tender dumplings, that my dear Momma filled with yummy potato and cheddar cheese, AND topped with bacon bits, green onion AND sour cream (just in case there wasn't enough calories in the cheese LOL! My little brothers used to compete with each other to see who could eat the most - OMG (oink oink)!!!
I can never eat that kind of food again - wouldn't want to, in all honesty. However, I thought if I could find a good vegan perogy dough recipe, I'd fill the dumplings with one of my favourite veggies instead: pumpkin. I was pleasantly surprised to find several vegan perogy dough recipes online, but couldn't find a good pumpkin filling. I scoured through scores of pasta recipes, thinking someone MUST have a pumpkin ravioli recipe I could adapt... but no such luck. So I did a little experimenting!
The good news is that my experiment paid off - my kids and family all enjoyed these. The recipe makes about five dozen medium-sized perogies (about 3" in length and 2" at the widest part). The even better news is that these yummy tidbits are satisfying and so much lower in calories and fat. I served my Pumpkin & Sage Perogies with Gentle Gravy (vegan mushroom gravy**), but you could also top them with fried onions, crisp-fried Shitake mushrooms
(tastes like bacon!), and/or vegan sour cream. I will include my fav Vegan Sour Cream recipe with this post also. These are so worth the effort... the dough is dreamy, soft, super easy to make and easily worked, and this recipe is easily halved. What more could you ask for? Happy cooking :)
Pam's Pumpkin & Sage Perogies
Dough Ingredients4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sea salt
1-1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup canola oil
Note: you will need 2 Tbsp. vegan margarine - for after they are cooked
Dough MethodMix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Combine the oil and warm water and mix into the flour. When the flour is mostly combined, knead the dough with your hands for about five minutes - it will be slightly sticky, but try not to add any more flour, as it will make your dough tough. When the dough feels smooth, pat it into a ball and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 30 minutes. While the dough is resting, start making your filling.
After 30 minutes, knead the dough slightly and divide the dough in four parts. Roll out the first piece on a lightly floured surface - about 1/8" thick. Cut the dough into circles with a biscuit cutter or, as I do, with a floured drinking glass (about 3" diameter will work nicely). Add a rounded teaspoon of filling (approx.) to one half of each circle, fold over and pinch the edges to seal.
The completed perogies will look like little crescent moon shapes. Set the assembled perogies aside on a clean cotton tea towel in neat rows, taking care to not let them touch - or they will stick together. It's okay if the surfaces dry - perogy dough is a bit like pasta and the perogies will soften when boiled.
Ideally, you will have two people assembling the perogies - a cutter and a filler. I made mine solo the last time, but it really goes quickly and is more fun with company! When your perogies are all made up, drop about 18 at a time into a large pot of boiling, salted water. Perogies don't take long to cook - as soon as they float to the surface, scoop them out with a slotted spoon, and cook another batch.
Place the cooked perogies into a casserole dish and add margarine (a tsp. or two at a time, with each batch you cook) - tossing gently to keep them from sticking together. I use a non-stick, wok-style skillet to boil my perogies - it heats up quickly and has perfect depth, as well as a wide surface area to keep the dumplings from sticking. You may wish to give the perogies a very gentle stir once or twice while cooking - this also ensures that they don't stick together or stick to the bottom of the pot/skillet. Some folks a) deep-fry or b) lightly pan-fry perogies - boiled is much healthier, but you can easily take the boiled variety and lightly brown them in a non-stick skillet before you serve them: yum! They also reheat nicely in a microwave, and freeze exceptionally well. Pre-freeze the dumplings on a cookie sheet. When they are frozen, transfer them to freezer bags - this keeps them from mushing together! After all that work, you need to treat these little morsels with respect ;)
Filling Ingredients
2 cups cooked pumpkin or other sweet winter squash
3 medium potatoes (any variety), cooked and mashed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
12 ounces crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried, ground sage
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste
Filling Method
Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet, heating to medium-high. Add in onion and cook, stirring constantly until the onions are translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Stir in the mushrooms and all seasonings, cooking a few more minutes. In a medium bowl, mash together the pumpkin and potatoes until well-combined and creamy in texture. Stir in the onion/mushroom mixture. Allow the filling to cool somewhat before beginning to fill your dumplings.
So Easy - Vegan Sour Cream
Ingredients16 ounces silken tofu
1 Tbsp. olive oil (or canola oil)
5 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, strained if necessary
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
(you may wish to adjust the salt and sugar to taste - slightly less or more)
Method
Place all ingredients in a blender and process on high until smooth. Use within 5 days
**My secret weapon for the mushroom gravy... add a little Vermouth or other high quality sweet white wine with the vegetable broth. So nice with the flavours in this recipe xox.
