Home recipe kuchnia polska

Millet and Cheese Pierogi

Name: Millet and Cheese Pierogi
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 230 min
Cuisine: kuchnia polska
Ingredients: 400 g wheat flour (type 450 or Wrocław type 500); 1 pc egg; 1 tsp butter (melted); salt (a pinch); 180 ml lukewarm water (approximately, as much as the dough will take); 200 ml millet (measured by volume, as in the record); 450 ml milk (fresh, meaning sweet, not sour); 20 g butter; salt (to taste); 200 g block cheese (preferably farmer's, as in the record); ground black pepper (not necessarily, as in Jeżowe); 30 g butter (melted); cold fresh milk (for drinking, as in Słomiana; or sautéed onions and sour cream, as in Jeżowe)

Small pierogi filled with millet cooked in milk and cheese, according to the recipe from Słomiana in the Pysznica commune, listed among Traditional Products. It includes how to cook millet, when to add cheese, how to buy millet and cheese abroad, and how to serve pierogi with butter or onions.

Servings: 4 servings
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 3 h 50 min
Difficulty: Medium

Gotowane pierogi polane masłem na białym talerzu

The story behind the recipe

Millet and cheese pierogi were entered into the List of Traditional Products by the Ministry of Agriculture on March 9, 2010, as a dish from the village of Słomiana in the Pysznica commune, in the Stalowa Wola County of Podkarpacie. According to the record, the residents of Słomiana have been cultivating millet for many years, so millet, or 'jagła', found its way into many dishes. The recipe was provided by the older residents of Pysznica. Millet pierogi were cooked only on Sundays and holidays and were considered 'even the best among all types of pierogi.' The edges were sealed with a spoon 'in a wreath,' which, according to the record, was characteristic only of these pierogi. The finished pierogi are about 5 cm in diameter and have a frill about 1 cm wide. Sometimes the hostess would arrange them in a pot greased with butter and place it under a blanket, where they could 'stand all day.'

A similar dish, 'Jeżowe millet pierogi with cheese,' was entered on the list on April 17, 2013. The Jeżowe commune is located in the Nisko County, in the area of the former Sandomierz Forest. The record explains that the soils here are poor, so mainly grains and potatoes were cultivated, and an important ingredient in dishes was millet, barley, and buckwheat. Residents said that cheese is added 'only a little, just like in Russian ones, less cheese than millet.' In the past, these pierogi were usually made for holidays, but according to the 2013 record, they are now cooked at least once a week, usually on Fridays.

Słomiana and Jeżowe are located in the lands of the Lasowiacy. According to the record of 'Lasowiacki honey from goldenrod' from the same list, the Lasowiacy are an ethnographic group from the Tarnobrzeg Plain and the Kolbuszowa Plateau, in the confluence of the Vistula and San rivers, in the area of the former Sandomierz Forest. They called themselves 'Lesioki.' Today, these are the counties of Leżajsk, Nisko, Stalowa Wola, Tarnobrzeg, Kolbuszowa, Mielec, and part of the Ropczycko-Sędziszów County. Millet appears in many dishes from this list, for example, in kukiełka with millet, and a resident of Koziarnia recalled how millet was pounded in a mortar 'for jagły.' However, the records of the pierogi do not refer to them as 'Lasowiackie.'

Ingredients

Dough (about 40 small pierogi)

400 g wheat flour (type 450 or Wrocław type 500)
Abroad: USA and Canada: all-purpose flour; UK: plain flour; Germany: Type 405 or 550
1 pc egg
1 tsp (about 5 g) butter (melted)
salt (a pinch)
180 ml lukewarm water (approximately, as much as the dough will take)

Filling

200 ml millet (measured by volume, as in the record)
Abroad: USA and Canada: hulled millet; UK: millet grain; Germany: Hirse
450 ml milk (fresh, meaning sweet, not sour)
20 g butter
salt (to taste)
200 g block cheese (preferably farmer's, as in the record)
Abroad: USA and Canada: farmer's cheese or drained dry curd cottage cheese; Germany: Schichtkäse or drained Quark; Austria: Topfen
ground black pepper (not necessarily, as in Jeżowe)

To serve

30 g butter (melted)
cold fresh milk (for drinking, as in Słomiana; or sautéed onions and sour cream, as in Jeżowe)
Abroad: sour cream; Germany: saure Sahne or Schmand

Method, step by step

Rinse the millet in a sieve first with cold water, then pour boiling water over it. This makes the millet less bitter.
In a pot with a thick bottom, bring milk with butter and a pinch of salt to a boil. Add the millet, reduce the heat to the minimum, and cook it very slowly covered for about an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Remove the pot from the heat and leave the millet covered to 'evaporate' and cool completely.
Crumble the cheese with a fork and mix it with the cooled millet. There should be less cheese than millet. Taste and season with salt, and if you like, also with pepper. Do not combine the cheese with warm millet, as the filling will spread out.
Make the dough while the millet is cooling. Pour the flour onto a board, add a pinch of salt, the egg, and melted butter. Gradually add lukewarm water and knead by hand until the dough is soft, smooth, and elastic. Cover it with a deep bowl and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough in batches thinly, to about 2 mm (1/16 inch), and keep the rest covered with a cloth to prevent drying. Cut out circles with a diameter of 6–7 cm (2½–2¾ inches) using a glass or cup.
Place a teaspoon of cold filling in the center of each circle. Do not overfill and make sure the edges remain clean.
Fold the circle in half and carefully seal the edges with your fingers. Then press the edge with a spoon, as in Słomiana, or make a frill with your fingers. Place the finished pierogi on a cloth sprinkled with flour.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop the pierogi in batches and gently stir with a wooden spoon at first to prevent sticking to the bottom. The water should only gently simmer. When the pierogi float, cook them for a little longer: in Słomiana for about 10 minutes, in Jeżowe only until they float. Take one out and try it to see if the dough is soft.
Remove the pierogi with a slotted spoon and immediately drizzle with melted butter. Serve with cold milk, as in Słomiana, or with sautéed onions or sour cream, as in Jeżowe. The pierogi can also be fried in butter.

Tips

The filling can become runny. Cheese should only be added to cooled millet. As the residents of Jeżowe said, adding cheese to warm millet would cause everything to 'spread out.' There should be less cheese than millet.

Millet can stick to the pot. Milk easily burns, so cook the millet on the lowest heat, covered, and stir occasionally. According to the record from Słomiana, millet was cooked very slowly for about an hour, and then the pot was placed at the edge of the stove 'to evaporate.'

The dough can be tough or shrink. Both records state that the dough should be soft. Gradually add water, 'as much as the dough will take,' and let the dough rest under a bowl for about half an hour.

Pierogi can open up. There should be no filling or flour on the edges. Seal them carefully with your fingers, and only then press the edges with a spoon or make a frill with your fingers. Cook in water that is just gently simmering.

Regarding the quantities. The record from Słomiana provides quantities for a large portion: about 1 kg (8⅓ cups) of flour, 1 egg and 2 yolks, 1 tablespoon of butter, half a liter of millet for just over a liter of milk, and about half a kilogram of cheese. The above recipe has these proportions reduced by the editor to four portions. Sometimes the dough was made only with flour, salt, and lukewarm water, and in Jeżowe, an egg and a little oil are added to the dough.

Cooking time. The record from Słomiana states to cook the pierogi for about 10 minutes after they float, while the record from Jeżowe says only until they float. With thinly rolled dough, take one pieróg after a few minutes and try it.

What to serve with. In Słomiana, finished pierogi could be 'greased' with butter and served with sweet milk. In Jeżowe, they are served warm, fried in butter or deep-fried, topped with sautéed onions and fat or sour cream.

Freezing. Just like other pierogi: lay raw ones on a floured tray, one next to the other, freeze, and then transfer to a bag. Cook them straight from the freezer, without thawing.

Abroad. Millet (hulled proso) can be found in the USA and Canada as hulled millet, in the UK as millet grain, and in Germany as Hirse. Cheese: in the USA and Canada as farmer's cheese or well-drained dry curd cottage cheese, in Germany as Schichtkäse or Quark drained overnight in a cloth, and in Austria as Topfen. Flour: in the USA and Canada as all-purpose flour, in the UK as plain flour, and in Germany as Type 405 or 550.

Photos

Gotowane pierogi z przesmażoną cebulką na talerzu w kwiaty

Pierogi and dumplings Polish cuisine Vegetarian Substitutes abroad

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