Gluten Free Perogy. Or Pierogi. Or Pierogy. However you want to spell them, they are awesome. I use perogy.
Fun fact: I went to a Ukrainian school for a year when I was a kid. Then I went to Ukrainian-Immersion for another few years.
Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on perogies or anything Ukrainian. haha
(EDIT: You know what, I was just reading that these are actually Polish. I've always thought they were Ukrainian. Very interesting. I had to add in this wikipedia info.)
Varenyky (Ukrainian:) are stuffed dumplings of unleavened dough. Varenyky are nearly identical with some types of Polish pierogi. In some regions of Western Ukraine, such as Carpathian Ruthenia and Galicia, both terms, varenyky and pyrohy, are used to denote the same dish. The name pyrohy is also common for the Canadian Ukrainian. This can be attributed to the history of Ukrainian and Rusyn immigration to Canada, which came predominantly from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, where the local dialects had many common words with Polish, German, Romanian and other Central European languages. -- source
But I did eat a lot of perogies as a kid. And as I grew up. And then a couple of years ago, all of a sudden it was one of those foods that existed only outside of the things I was ok to eat. (If you’re Celiac too, or have a family member or friend who is, then you are familiar with this problem).
Perogies are one of those foods which prompted me to start creating my own recipes and to start this blog to share those recipes with other people who thought perogies (or pasta, or cookies, or crackers, etc…) were lost to them forever. No way man, we’re not settling for that. We’ll eat exactly what we want and it’ll taste just as good.
Right?
Anyway, like I said this one was of the first foods I recreated as gluten free by myself, and as such, these photos are a bit old. Not my best. But please make these anyway!! They are soo good. And feel free to use white potato in yours. However you want them. Use a different filling completely if you like. They are your perogies now and you can eat them as you please. (But topped with sour cream is my favorite.)
And make extra and freeze them. To do this, just make the dough, fill and assemble, but don’t boil the perogies. Freeze them in a single layer on a pan, and when they are frozen move them to a large freezer bag or container. Then when you crave perogies, just continue with the rest of the recipe steps by bringing a large pot of water to boil, drop frozen perogies in and boil about 5 minutes or so. (when they float, they are ready). Eat right away, or sauté them in a pan, and then cover with melted butter, fried onions and sour cream. Yum.
Enjoy!
What are some of the foods you've missed most, or were the happiest about when you found a way to have them gluten free?
Rolled and cut out, about the thickness you want your dough.
Filled and closed up, lined up ready to either freeze or cook and eat.
Gluten Free Perogies
Gluten Free Yam Perogies
Yield: 18 – 3 ½ inch perogy roundsPreparation time: 30-45min
Cook time: 5min
Ingredients:
- 140 grams gluten free flour blend
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if this is included in your flour mix)
- 40 grams tapioca flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup cold mashed potato (I used mashed yam)
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Filling: I used a 450 gram yam, boiled then mashed it, saved ¼ cup for the dough and used the rest, seasoned with salt and pepper, as my filling
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour mixture, tapioca flour, salt and xanthan if using.
2. Add mashed potato and combine. Add egg, sour cream and olive oil and mix together until it comes together as a ball.
3. Roll out on a non-stick surface (baking mat, parchment paper) using tapioca flour lightly so your rolling pin doesn’t stick. Cut out rounds and gather scraps to re-roll for more rounds. Roll quite thin.
4. Put about a tablespoon of your favorite filling into the middle of your round. Use egg white around one half of your round and fold dough in half around the filling. Pinch seam together. Repeat for all rounds.
5. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add about 7-8 pierogi to the boiling water at a time, and boil about 3-4 minutes. They are done when they float.
6. Sauté in butter for a minute or two per side to crisp up, if desired. Yummy served with extra sour cream.
