Hey everyone! Today I am coming up with a recipe for a classic Polish comfort food staple – pierogi (polish dumplings) stuffed with green lentils and mushrooms and seasoned with smoked paprika and thyme. They are delicious, super filling and equally nice when eaten warm or cold.
Making pierogi can be pretty time-consuming, but once you have made them a couple of times, you will not only find that it doesn’t take that long, but also it’s pretty easy to make them. Also, I like to prepare the filling a few hours before or the day before so that I only have to mess with the dough the day I make them.
The options for pierogi are endless. You can boil, fry or bake them; eat them savoury or sweet; and the fillings… I have so many favourites and will share more of them with you soon!
Baked Vegan Dumplings with Lentils and Mushrooms
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 100 g green lentils cooked
- 150 g mushrooms sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
For the dough:
- 1 kg potatoes
- 200 g plain flour
- 50 g potato starch
- olive oil
- a pinch of salt
Serve with:
- plant-based yoghurt
- chives
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes, and boil them in salted water. Once soft, drain and put them aside to cool down.
- Place a pan over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the onions and cook until they become translucent. Then add the garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook for a couple more minutes until the mushrooms start to soften. Stir in the cooked lentils together with the spices and cook for extra two-three minutes.
- Remove from the heat, and blend using a hand blender or transfer to a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To make a dough, mash the potatoes thoroughly with a potato masher. Stir in flour, potato starch and salt and knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.
- Divide it into ten-twelve balls and roll out each ball slightly. Put each of the balls on a floured countertop, and roll it out to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Put a portion of the filling (about 1 tbsp.) in the centre, and form, sticking the edges together (you can press the edges with a fork).
- Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6. Place the dumplings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven and brush them with olive oil. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until the dumplings are lightly brown.
- Serve the dumplings with plant-based yoghurt and chives.
Please let me know, if you try this recipe! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
