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Pierogi z jagodami

Name: Pierogi z jagodami
Prep time: 70 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 90 min
Cuisine: kuchnia polska
Ingredients: 400 g all-purpose flour (cake or universal); 1 pc egg (size M); 40 g butter (melted and cooled); 200 ml water (boiled, warm); ½ tsp salt; 450 g berries (fresh or frozen); 1 tbsp potato flour; 1 tbsp sugar (1–2 tablespoons, optional; traditionally without sugar); 250 ml 18% cream (or 30% for a thicker sauce); 2 tbsp powdered sugar; 1 tsp vanilla sugar; 1 handful fresh berries (optional); 3 l water; 1 tbsp salt

Summer pierogi with blackberries on thin dough, drizzled with sweet cream and sprinkled with sugar. Tips on how to shape them so they don't burst, and what to substitute for wild berries in the USA, UK, and Germany.

Servings: 4 servings
Prep time: 1 h 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Difficulty: Medium

Pierogi z jagodami ze śmietaną, posypane małymi leśnymi jagodami

The story behind the recipe

Pierogi z jagodami is a seasonal dish made when berries ripen in the forest. According to Polish Wikipedia, in the warmest regions of Poland, berries mainly fruit from June 19 to July 14, and Ania Gotuje has been making these pierogi from the end of June to mid-July. The berry is also called black berry or czernica, and in southern Poland, it is referred to as borówka, so 'pierogi z borówkami' from Podkarpacie or Małopolska is the same dish. However, in stores, borówka usually means American blueberry, which is a different fruit.

On the List of Traditional Products by the Ministry of Agriculture, there are 'Pierogi z jagodami z Myszyńca' from Kurpie, registered on September 6, 2017. The entry tells that for the Kurpie people, gathering berries and mushrooms in the forest was an important part of life, and when the first berries ripened, entire villages would go to pick them. During the season, 'pierogi z jagodami were an everyday dish.' The filling was made from fresh berries, often picked that same morning, without sugar, flour, or breadcrumbs. Everyday pierogi were larger and simpler, while those for guests had a decorative frill and were placed in a large bowl in the center of the table. The berries are tart, so they were drizzled with cream or honey, which was plentiful in Kurpie.

The second entry is 'Pierogi jagodowe lubelskie,' added to the list on September 26, 2022. Lublin is a forested region, and family trips to the forest ended with such dishes, with recipes passed down from mother to daughter. The Feast of Our Lady of the Blueberries on July 2 opened the 'green period' in the folk calendar, and it was believed that only from that day could berries be picked and eaten.

Ingredients

Dough (about 40 pierogi)

400 g all-purpose flour (cake or universal)
Abroad: USA: all-purpose flour; UK: plain flour; Germany: Type 405
1 pc egg (size M)
40 g butter (melted and cooled)
200 ml water (boiled, warm)
½ tsp (about 3 g) salt

Filling

450 g berries (fresh or frozen)
Abroad: USA and Canada: frozen wild blueberries; UK: bilberries; Germany and Austria: Waldheidelbeeren
1 tbsp (about 9.5 g) potato flour
Abroad: potato starch; Germany: Kartoffelstärke
1 tbsp (about 13 g) sugar (1–2 tablespoons, optional; traditionally without sugar)

For serving

250 ml 18% cream (or 30% for a thicker sauce)
Abroad: USA: light cream; UK: single cream; Germany: Kochsahne; 30%: whipping cream, Schlagsahne
2 tbsp (about 14 g) powdered sugar
Abroad: USA: powdered sugar; UK: icing sugar; Germany: Puderzucker
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla sugar
Abroad: Germany: Vanillezucker; USA and UK: a few drops of vanilla extract
1 handful fresh berries (optional)

For cooking

3 l water
1 tbsp (about 18 g) salt

Method, step by step

Dough: sift the flour with salt into a bowl and make a well. Crack in the egg, pour in the melted butter and warm boiled water. Mix with a spoon, then briefly knead by hand into a soft, slightly sticky dough. If you measure the ingredients precisely, you won't need to add more flour. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Rinse fresh berries briefly, dry them on a paper towel, and sort them, removing leaves and stems. Spread them on a tray and dust with potato flour. Do not thaw frozen berries: take them out of the freezer just before shaping.
Roll out one-third of the dough, keeping the rest covered with a damp cloth. Roll it out very thinly, to about 2 mm (1/16 inch), and cut out circles with a glass, about 7–8 cm (2¾–3⅛ inches) in diameter. You can slightly stretch each circle with your fingers.
If you are sweetening the filling, sprinkle the berries with sugar now and gently mix. Sugar draws juice from the fruit, so do not do this earlier.
Place a full teaspoon of berries, about 10 g, in the center of each circle. Fold the circle in half and carefully seal the edges, then make a frill that closes the pieróg well. The edges must remain dry, as wet edges will not seal.
Place the finished pierogi on a floured countertop and cover them with a damp cloth. Knead the dough scraps together and roll them out again.
In a large pot, bring 3 liters of water with a tablespoon of salt to a boil. The water should not be boiling vigorously. Drop the pierogi in batches, about 15 at a time. They will float after about a minute, then cook for another 2–4 minutes. A pieróg that floats immediately has an air bubble inside: wait a minute before you start timing. For thinner dough, take one out earlier and taste it.
Remove the pierogi with a slotted spoon, drain well, and lay them out separately on a buttered plate or tray so they do not touch.
Mix the cream with powdered sugar and vanilla sugar. Drizzle the hot pierogi with the cream and sprinkle with a handful of fresh berries.

Tips

Pierogi burst while cooking if they have too much filling or if the edges are not sealed properly. Use a full teaspoon of berries, about 10 g (⅓ oz), seal the edges carefully, and make a frill. Dusting the berries with potato flour reduces the juice they release.

Juice leaks out while shaping. Berries thawed too early or received sugar too soon will release juice. Take frozen berries out of the freezer just before shaping, and add sugar at the very end, as it draws juice from the fruit. The edges of the dough must remain dry.

They stick together after cooking. Lay them out separately on a buttered plate so they don't touch.

For a soft dough, it should be soft and slightly sticky, rolled out very thinly.

Cooking time. Kwestia Smaku cooks pierogi for 2 minutes after they float, while Ania Gotuje cooks them for about 4 minutes. Thinner dough cooks faster, so take one pieróg out earlier and taste it.

Serving suggestions. Most often served with sweetened 12% or 18% cream and sugar. Gotuj.eglos.pl drizzles them with butter and serves with whipped 36% cream with vanilla, while Ania Gotuje serves them with natural yogurt mixed with powdered sugar, vanilla cheese, or a hot sauce made from 30% cream with vanilla sugar and a bit of butter. In Kurpie, they were eaten with cream or honey.

Variations. You can add cottage cheese or cinnamon to the berries, and instead of sugar, use honey or brown sugar. Lidl's kitchen colors the dough purple with blended berries.

Leftovers. Polish Your Kitchen states that cold pierogi with berries straight from the fridge make an excellent late-night snack.

Berries vs. blueberries. The Polish jagoda is the black bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), which is small, grows wild, and has pigment in both the skin and the flesh, thus staining hands, tongue, and dough. The cultivated American blueberry (highbush blueberry) has pigment only in the skin, is twice as large or even larger, and, as the German Wikipedia states, has a much weaker aroma. Ania Gotuje mentions that blueberries can replace jagody, as they are available year-round, but they have a milder flavor. The filling will not be dark purple, and the dough will not be colored. Add a few drops of lemon juice or use less sugar, and cut very large blueberries in half to ensure the pieróg seals well. Polish Your Kitchen places 5–8 blueberries on each circle.

Abroad. In the USA and Canada, the closest option is frozen wild blueberries, labeled 'frozen wild blueberries.' This is the lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), a different species than our jagoda, with small, dark fruits. The Wild Blueberry Association of North America states that they are frozen within 24 hours of harvest and have a stronger flavor than regular blueberries. In the UK, jagody are bilberries (regionally blaeberries or whinberries). In Germany and Austria, ask for Heidelbeeren or Blaubeeren, but make sure they are wild (Waldheidelbeeren), not cultivated (Kulturheidelbeeren). Flour: in the USA, all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour; in Germany, Type 405. Sweet cream 18% is light cream in the USA, single cream in the UK, and Kochsahne in Germany, while 30% is whipping cream or Schlagsahne.

Photos

Pierogi z jagodami ułożone wokół miseczki ze śmietaną, posypane cukrem pudrem

Pierogi z jagodami pod białą śmietaną, z fioletowym sokiem z owoców

Ukraińskie wareniki z czarnymi jagodami w misce, ciasto zabarwione sokiem na fioletowo

Pierogi and dumplings Polish cuisine Vegetarian Substitutes abroad

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