Make Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogi for Your Holiday Party This Year
It can be difficult to find vegan recipes for traditional holiday foods — especially ones that are as comforting and delicious as their meat- and cheese-laden variants. These vegan pierogi are a great option. Mushrooms and fried onions make them rich and savory, and the chewy, homemade dough exterior makes each one feel like a little present. Homemade pierogi take a while to make, but are not difficult. And they’re great to make with other people. You can all chat and stuff the dumplings together. It’s like a little party that’s perfect for the holidays.
Make the dough first. Combine flour, salt, and olive oil. Add a little bit of hot water at a time while mixing with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Knead it with your hands for about 10 minutes. Once it’s smooth and elastic but not sticky, form it into a ball and let that sit under a damp towel for about 30 minutes. When it’s ready, cut off one section at a time and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it’s a millimeter or two thick. The author says thinner dough will taste better, so do your best to get it thin and even, but thick enough to maintain structural integrity when filled.
To make the filling, sauté diced onions until translucent. They should be just starting to caramelize. Set half the onions aside to be used as a topping, then add chopped garlic, then mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are savory and starting to brown, add chopped cabbage with porcini mushroom stock. (Use mushroom stock to keep the recipe vegan.) Add chopped porcini mushrooms with dried thyme and smoked paprika. Cook everything until the cabbage tastes tender and delicious and all the liquid cooks off. Taste the filling and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Make sure to let the filling cool before filling the pierogi.
Cut the dough into circles with a cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass, then fill the circles with the mushroom mixture. You don’t need to get too fancy when you fill the pierogi. Just put a circle of dough in one hand, add some filling, fold the dough into a half-circle, and pinch the edge closed.
Boil the pierogi to cook them. If you prefer your pierogi fried, let them cool after boiling, then sauté them in a bit of olive oil until they’re golden on the outside. Serve them topped with the leftover sautéed onions. To make it really special, grind some roasted walnuts in a mortar and pestle with nutritional yeast, chopped rosemary, and sea salt. The ground walnuts make an excellent, umami-filled topping for these pierogi, as well as salads, sandwiches, and anywhere else you might want a sprinkle of nutty, Parmesan-esque flavor.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Mushroom Cabbage Pierogi from Lazy Cat Kitchen
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