I don’t know if you have ever had a chance to try Polish pierogi, but they are one of my favourite winter comfort foods, so I’ve decided that it is high time for this recipe. As I mentioned several times before, my Gran was a pierogi master in our house and, as she lived downstairs from us and looked after us when my parents were working, I ate heaps of delicious pierogi as a child. In fact, pierogi remind me of my Gran so much that whenever I make a batch myself I suddenly miss her a little bit more.
As they are perfect winter food, I ‘open’ a pop-up pierogarnia (a place that specialises in pierogi) in my kitchen every winter – something that makes Duncan super happy as he is a massive vegan pierogi fan too. The Poles, as well as Russians (who call their dish pielmieni) and Italians (whose world famous ravioli needs no introduction) all ‘stole’ the idea of wrapping a filling in a piece of thin elastic dough and boiling it from the Chinese. It’s quite ironic as many Polish people consider pierogi to be a quintessentially Polish dish. Pierogi proves that things get better when cultures collide, mingle and feed off each other and this notion of ‘traditional’ Polish (or any other country’s) cuisine is a bit of myth. Unless we build a wall (I know some people are dead set on this 😉 ) around ourselves and never leave the house, we are bound to be challenged and influenced by other peoples’ ideas, customs and habits and, in my humble opinion, this is what makes life truly interesting… Anyway, I digress, my apologies. Back to pierogi, so traditionally Ruskie (which is what we call them in Poland) pierogi are topped with lardons and / or fried onion. I obviously always go for the latter, but recently a new idea struck me and I decided to see what they will taste like with…wait for it…coconut bacon 🙂 . I know, I know, it’s a little unorthodox of me, but hey, when you are vegan you are by definition not very traditional anyway, so the horse has already bolted on that one 🙂 . I think it really works well as coconut bacon doesn’t really taste of coconut at all. It tastes salty and smokey with a hint of sweetness, a perfect contrast to the savoury potato and ‘cheese’ filling. Smacznego!
600 g / 1.2 lb potatoes (cooked the day before) 1 cup vegan ricotta (made the day before) 2-3 tbsp lemon juice 1¼ tsp salt 3 medium white onions, diced finely ½ tsp freshly ground pepper freshly grated nutmeg (optional), to taste
DOUGH
500 g / 4 cups flour 240 ml / 1 cup hot water 60 ml / ¼ cup reduced aquafaba 1½ level tsp sea salt 30 ml / 2 tbsp olive oil
COCONUT BACON (optional)
1½ cup (loosely packed) raw coconut flakes 2 tsp olive oil 1 tbsp maple syrup ½ tsp liquid smoke (I use hickory flavour) 3 tbsp soy sauce
COCONUT BACON* (optional)
