Healthy Perogies!
Spelt pierogis with cheese, potato and beet tops
Spelt perogies with potato, beet tops and cheese
Spelt pierogis with cheese, potato and beet tops
Spelt pierogis with cheese, potato and beet tops
- 4 1/2 cup spelt flour, You can use white or whole wheat instead
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, or butter, if using butter you will have to melt it first
- 1 cup greek style yogurt, or sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large potato's, peeled and diced
- 1 cup cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
Spelt pierogis with cheese potatoes and beet tops
- In a large bowl measure out the flour and salt. Set the bowl aside.
- In another bowl, cream together the coconut oil, eggs and yogurt. Add these wet ingredients into the flour. Mix together with a large spoon. It will seem dry, but at this point just stick your hands in and mix all the ingredients together to form a ball. Cover the ball and set it aside while you prepare the filling.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring it to boil on your stove. Meanwhile, peel and cut your potatos and slice the beet tops into ribbons and grate your cheese.
- When the water comes to a boil drop in the potatos. They will need about twelve to fifteen minutes. You will want to keep checking. You are looking for fork tender potatoes. About 5 minutes before you think they are ready, drop in the beet tops and let them cook along with the potatos. When the potatos are ready pour them and the greens into a colander for a good draining. You don't want your filling to end up too wet.
- Pour the potatos and greens in a large bowl and add the cheese, onion powder, garlic powder and pepper. You could also add a teaspoon of salt at this point, but for me, the cheese already has plenty.
- Cut your dough in half and roll out each half at a time. Roll your dough out to about 3/8ths of inch in thickness. You want it thin but not so thin it tears easily. Take a 4 inch biscuit cutter and cut out circles.
- Have a small bowl of water on hand. You will want to make a thin line of water around the outside of your dough circles. This is the glue that seals the pierogis together.
- Fill half of the dough circle with about one tablespoon of filling. Run a wet finger on the outside of the dough and then fold the empty side of the circle slightly, stretching it over the filling to meet the other side of your circle. Use your fingers to crimp the half circle closed. Make sure its sealed well; you don't want your filling floating all around your boiling water.
- Do this until you have used all the dough and filling. If you have too much filling, you can make cakes with the biscuit cutter you were using on a cookie tray and freeze them for a sauted breakfast treat. Think potato pancake!
- Start a large pot with water to boil. Once the water is boiling, add your pierogis and boil gently for about 5-7 minutes. I served mine with carmelized onions that I finished off with balsamic vinegar. I served this along with a grated carrot and beet salad. So good!
Spelt pierogis with cheese,potato and beet tops
I was fortunate enough as a kid to grow up with ethnic European grandparents on both sides of the family. Everyone cooked at home and everyone had something to teach me. These lessons now influence the cook I am today. I was also lucky enough to see my great-grandmother and grandmother make many savory ethnic dishes and pastries. I used to love to go over to Grandma's and see my great-grandmother elbow deep in flour. I knew I was going to be the lucky recipient of all that skill, culture and love. As I grew older, I also became aware of the nutrition (or lack thereof) of all these foods items that I grown to love. Although they were delicious and comforting, all that white flour and butter wasn't very figure friendly, nor healthy.
You don't need to be Eastern European to enjoy the taste of pierogis. Yes, you can buy them frozen at the grocery but the ingredients are not very healthy. Like a lot of things homemade, this recipe is a lot better for you and still tastes delicious. I have switched the white flour for spelt and added a lot less cheese along with some bonus greens to keep my guilt at bay. I think you will find them still very comforting and delicious. I also paired my pierogis with a New Holland Black Tulip craft beer. Oh so yummy!