Tag: Meat Filling

Pierogi – Meat Filling

  • Pierogi with meat filling is one of the most usual ways my Mama made pierogi.
  • The meat was usually cooked pork, which had been left from a roast or gulasz the day before.
  • Below are instructions for cooking the pork from scratch in case you do not have any cooked pork.
  • At Christmas time the meat could have been chicken, should any have been left.

Ingredients

  • 300g shoulder or spare rib pork
  • 1 onion
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tablespoon of dried breadcrumbs
  • Approx 250 ml of chicken stock – can be from stock cubes
  • Butter & oil to fry the onion
  • Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Method

  • Pre heat the oven to GM 3 – 1600C
  • Put the pork into a small casserole dish and cover it with the stock and put on the lid.
  • Put the dish in the oven for at least 1 hour, depending on the meat you might need longer.
  • Cook the meat until it is tender and can be broken up with a fork and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
  • Allow the meat to cool.
  • You can mince the meat but I find that if you cook it long enough you do not need to, you can just chop it with a sharp knife .
  • Chop the onion finely and fry it till it is soft and golden, allow it to cool.
  • Mix thoroughly together: the meat, onion, yolk and breadcrumbs and then add salt and pepper to taste.
  • *
  • Serve with melted butter or
  • Onions fried in butter or
  • Fried bacon bits – skwarki.

  • Make the pierogi in the usual way – instructions are given below.

    • Ingredients – Dough

    • 500g pasta flour or strong flour or plain flour & 2 tablespoons of fine semolina
    • 300ml water
    • 1 – 2 tablespoons oil – sunflower or light olive
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 2 egg yolks
    • *
    • Melted butter for serving or chopped onions cooked in butter.

    Method – Dough

    • In a jug or bowl mix together the water, oil and the yolks.
    • Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
    • Pour in the liquid from the jug and initially use a knife to mix this into the flour and then use your hands to mix the liquid and flour to get a ball of dough.
    • Turn this out onto a floured board and knead the dough for a few minutes until you have a smooth ball.
    • Cut the dough into quarters.
    • On a floured board roll out a quarter at a time until you have a sheet of thinly rolled dough.
    • Now prepare a large tray and cover it with a clean tea towel and sprinkle this with flour.
    • Have a large surface such as a tray covered with a cotton or linen cloth which has been lightly floured ready  and place the sealed pierogi on this until they are all made, do not let then touch each other.
    • I cut them out using a 7 cm diameter cutter.
    • I have noticed some people make them larger – I will try this out soon.
    • The excess dough can be re-mixed and rolled out again.
    • Around a half tablespoon of filling is put on  each circle and then they are folded over and the edges pinched together to make a good seal.
    • You learn from experience how much filling to put in as too much will make it hard to seal them and if not properly sealed they will burst on boiling. 
    • Do not worry if you have a few mishaps – it still happens to me even with experience – it is hard to salvage one that has gone wrong – just accept that there will be a few that you do not cook.
    • *
    • To cook the pierogi, use a large pan of boiling water to which you have added some salt and a drizzle of oil.
    • Drop the pierogi in one by one and allow them to boil.  I usually do about 6 to 8 at a time (I only do 6 at a time if using frozen ones).
    • As they cook they will float to the surface, let them boil for 2 to 3 minutes, (a bit more if they were frozen*), and
    • Then remove them with a slotted or perforated spoon and put into a colander above a pan for a few seconds to drain and serve.
    • Continue boiling batches in the same water.
    • If you want to make all the pierogi to serve together then you need to get a large shallow dish.*
    • Put in the pierogi and add melted butter.
    • Keep the dish warm in a low oven.
    •  
      • *I often open freeze them for later.

Kartacze or Kołduny

  • Kartacze, sometimes called kołduny , are potato dumplings, stuffed with meat and then boiled.
  • They are very similar to pyzy  but they are a different shape – long rolls rather than round balls.
  • 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.

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 kartacze

  • You are aiming for  a thick roll.
  • Take a small handful of the mixture and shape it into a flat oval.
  • Place this onto a floured board.
  • Add a tablespoon amount of the meat filling.
  • Bring the potato mixture around the filling and with floured hands shape into a roll.
  • Seal up the short ends with the potato dough.
  • 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 and a bit of sunflower oil..
  • Place around 4 kartacze at a time into the hot water.
  • Let them rise to the top then simmer for 8 – 9  minutes –  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 kartacze in the dish as they cook.
  • The fat in the topping stops them sticking together.
  • Royal Doulton Carnation – 1982-1998

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.