Pyzy

Pyzy are potato dumplings, usually stuffed with meat and then boiled.

Traditionally they are served with some skwarki – crispy smoked bacon bits or slightly charred onions, a mixture of the two or just melted butter poured over them.

• There are many recipes, some made with raw potato, others with boiled or steamed potatoes and some using a mixture of the two.
• I have found that using a 50:50 mixture of  fine grated raw potatoes and boiled potatoes gives the best results.
• You will need some flour, which can be wheat flour, potato flour or a mixture of the two (I prefer just wheat).
• You also need eggs or egg yolks – around 1 egg to 1 kilo of potatoes.
• For the filling you needs some cooked meat such as from a klops – meat loaf, cooked kotlety (meat balls/burgers) or meat filling for pierogi.

My mother never made pyzy and I must admit the first time I had them in Poland, I thought they were much too big & heavy! Since them I have tried out many different version and have liked them very much.

In Gvara, a restaurant in Gdańsk, I tried a soup with some pyzy in it.  It was utterly delicious.

Dried mushroom consommé with thin sliced mushroom carpaccio* and pyzy filled with pork & shrimp.

* Usually thinly sliced raw meat or fish -named by Giuseppe Cipriani (1900 – 1980) bar owner in Venice, because of the colours used by the Venetian Painter Vittore Carpaccio.

Ingredients

• 750g of raw potatoes
• 750g of cold boiled potatoes
• 1 egg and 1 yolk
• 1-2 tablespoons of plain flour  & extra for dusting
• Salt

Method

• Grate the raw potatoes using a fine grater.
• Place the potatoes on a clean tea cloth.
• Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
• Mash or use a ricer to get the boiled potatoes smooth and lump free.
• Mix the two sorts of potato together in a large bowl.
• Add the egg and the yolk and mix together.
• Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.
• Add some salt.

 

Ingredients – Filling

• 250g of cooked and then minced or finely chopped meat(usually pork)
  such as from:
  • Klops – meat loaf
  • Cooked minced kotlety (meat balls/burgers)
  • Meat filling for pierogi.
• Half a grated onion
• 25g of melted butter
• 1-2 tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs – bułka tarta
• Salt & pepper

Method – Filling

• Mix all the ingredients together to make a stiff filling.
• Season to taste.

Making the pyzy

• You are aiming for balls around the size of a large walnut.
• Take a small handful of the mixture and shape it into a flat disc.
• Place this onto a floured board.
• Add a teaspoon amount of the meat filling.
• Bring the potato mixture around the filling and with floured hands shape into a ball.
• Repeat this with the rest of the potato mixture and meat filling mixture.
• Have ready a large pan of boiling water to which you have added some salt.
• Place around 5 pyzy at a time into the hot water.
• Let them rise to the top then simmer for 4 – 6  minutes, depends on the size –  not too long as they will start to disintegrate.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a colander over a pan.

 

• Place into a warm serving dish and top with skwarki – crispy smoked bacon bits, slightly charred onions, a mixture of the two or just melted butter.
• Keep the dish warm and continue adding to the pyzy in the dish as they cook.
• The fat in the topping stops them sticking together.

Serving tureen – Gaywood by Ridgeway – Made in England.