Uszka - mushroom-filled pierogi for Christmas Eve Borscht (video)
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 3 ½ ounces (100g) dried wild mushrooms preferably porcini mushrooms
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 allspice berry
- 1 large onion 100g / 3.5 oz
- 2 heaped tablespoons butter
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the mushrooms *, add to a medium pot with the bay leaves and allspice berry, add enough water to cover the mushrooms. Cook over low heat, partially covered, for about 30 minutes until tender. Strain and squeeze out the water. Reserve the water for Christmas Eve Borscht! Discard the bay leaves and allspice berry.
- Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat, add finely chopped onion. Cook for about 8 minutes, until soft and translucent.
- Add the cooked and drained mushrooms to the pan and cook for a few more minutes.
- Transfer the content of the pan to a food processor bowl, blitz until of almost paste consistency, season with salt and pepper to taste (you can also grind the mushroom filling in a meat grinder).
- Roll out the pierogi dough (ýou'll need 1/2 of my recipe) very thinly, about 1-2 mm / 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 4 cm / 1.5 inch squares (see photos). You can also cut out rounds if you wish (it takes more time).
- Apply the filling with a teaspoon, or squeeze it from a plastic / pastry bag. Fill a plastic bag with the mushroom filling and cut its corner. Squeeze a little bit of filling onto each square.
- Fold over in a triangle shape, press the edges together to seal (if it’s not easy to do, wet the edges all around each square with a bit of water). Wrap the two ends around your finger and press.
- Arrange the shaped dumplings on a kitchen towel, lightly sprinkled with flour, cover with a second kitchen towel (so that the dough won’t dry out).
- Boil the uszka in salted water, about 15 pieces at a time, for about 1-2 minutes, starting from the moment when they float to the water’s surface. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon. You can coat them in a small amount of butter so that they don’t stick to each other (only if you’re serving the uszka right away and not freezing them).
- Serve in a bowl of clear red borscht.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Many recipes call for soaking the mushrooms, but I don’t usually do that. You can soak them for a few hours if they have a lot of sand (it will fall at the bottom of the bowl). I didn’t notice any sand in the mushrooms that I usually buy. I rinse them briefly with water just like I rinse fresh mushrooms.
- You can cook the uszka right away or freeze them. How to freeze uszka: place them on a plate or chopping board, it should be well sprinkled with flour. The uszka should be placed apart so that they don‘t stick to each other. On the next day (or when they‘re frozen) transfer them to a plastic bag or container. Cook the same way as fresh, uncooked uszka.
- Filling variations:
- The mushroom filling can be made from dried wild mushrooms / fresh wild mushrooms / fresh button or cremini mushrooms. Dried wild mushrooms are more readily available than fresh wild mushrooms so this is what I've used. The best are porcini mushrooms. Alternatively, you can use the button or cremini mushrooms. The filling made from the wild mushrooms will have a deeper 'mushroom flavor'. If you're using fresh mushrooms, just chop them finely and sautee in a pan until soft. It's important to cook them over high heat until the water released from the mushrooms has evaporated and the mushrooms are browned.
- Sauerkraut and mushroom filling, the same as for the sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi.
Nutrition
Calories: 720kcal