28 | June | 2011 | Live. Learn. Love. Eat.

Yesterday Kesara and I got busy making one of the girls’ favorite foods, perogies!

This recipe has been a long time coming as I have been meaning to post it on the blog but have never got around to photographing the perogy-making process. I am happy to report that today I will share with you my recipe for our family’s favorite whole wheat vegan perogies! I have included the dough recipe as well as two different potato filling ideas, Potato, Onion and Chive and Potato Onion and ‘Cheese’ fillings. I grew up loving fried perogies covered in ketchup! Now I enjoy them made with the goodness of whole wheat, boiled and served with fried onions and a bit of vegan margarine. My kids also love them and I feel good about feeding them this homemade recipe. These perogies are a lot of work, but they are so worth it in the end. I usually double the recipe since I am going through all the trouble and freeze them to eat later on. 🙂

To make these perogies follow the dough recipe and then choose one of the potato filling options below. You may even have a bit extra filling left over but it is also great to eat on it’s own as jazzed up mashed potatoes! The dough will make enough for 27 perogies.

Whole Wheat Vegan Perogy Dough

Makes approximately 27 perogies

300 grams soft tofu
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

Blend together the tofu, water, oil and sea salt in a food processor until smooth.

Transfer the tofu mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the flour 1 cup at a time and mix until well combined and a dough ball forms. Knead the dough a little to make sure the flour is fully incorporated. Sprinkle some more flour onto your table or counter and roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Using a cup or a circle cookie cutter (with a 3 inch diameter), cut out circle shapes from the perogy dough. You may need a spatula to help life the perogies from the table or counter.

Place one tablespoon of filling in the middle of each circle, fold the circle in half and pinch the dough together where the edges meet.

Make sure that you don’t stretch the dough out too far and make a hole in your perogy. 😦 If the edges of your perogy won’t stick together try putting a drop of water along the inside edge of your dough circle to help the dough to stick better.

Pinch!

Kesa enjoys ‘helping’ me make these. She especially likes taste testing the potato filling and rolling out the dough with her mini play doh rolling pin.

Once all of your perogies are made, bring a large pot of water to boil and boil the perogies about 3-5 minutes, until they float to the top. Allow them to float one minute more, then drain them. You can serve them up right away with some fried onions or freeze them for later use. If freezing them, once ready to use simply boil them as directed above.

Potato Onion and Chive Filling

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper
1/4 cup freeze dried chives or fresh chives, minced

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Place the chopped potatoes in the boiling water and boil 10-12 minutes, until the potatoes are soft when they are poked with a fork. While the potatoes are boiling, fry up the onion in a frying pan with the sunflower oil on medium low heat 5-8 minutes until soft and translucent.

Drain the potatoes and place them back in the pot. Mash the potatoes with the margarine and sea salt and pepper until smooth. Add the onion and chives and mix until everything is well combined.

Potato Onion and ‘Cheese’ Filling

2 lbs russet potatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper
3/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Place the chopped potatoes in the boiling water and boil 10-12 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork. While the potatoes are boiling, fry up the onion in a frying pan with the sunflower oil on medium low heat for 5-8 minutes, until soft and translucent. Drain the potatoes and place them back in the pot. Mash the potatoes with the margarine and salt, until smooth. Add the onion and nutritional yeast and mix until everything is well combined.

Once you have frozen the perogies, they do get very frozen! I find that I have to take them out ahead of time and allow them to thaw out for a few hours before boiling them so that the middle does not stay frozen even after I boil them. I had that happen a few too many times so now I plan ahead. You can also defrost them in the microwave before boiling.