Name: Potato and Mushroom Vareniki
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ukrainian
Ingredients: 400 g Plain flour; 1 piece Eggs; 200 ml Water; 65 ml Sunflower oil; 15 g Fine sea salt; 500 g Potatoes; 300 g Cremini mushrooms; 200 g Onion; 2 g Ground black pepper; 150 g Sour cream, to serve; 10 g Fresh dill

About this dish

Mushrooms are picked, dried and stored in Ukrainian villages every autumn, and mushroom filling is a fixture of the Christmas Eve supper, where it appears in vareniki, soups and pies. Mixed with potato it makes a filling that is both plain enough for every day and rich enough for a holiday. Dried wild mushrooms, soaked and chopped, give the deepest flavour, but ordinary mushrooms fried hard work very well.

Vegetarian
Not vegan because of Eggs, Sour cream, to serve
Contains gluten because of Plain flour
Contains dairy because of Sour cream, to serve

Ingredients

4servings

400gPlain flour
1pieceEggs
200mlWater
65mlSunflower oil
15gFine sea salt
500gPotatoes
300gCremini mushrooms
200gOnion
2gGround black pepper
150gSour cream, to serve (optional)
10gFresh dill (optional)

Instructions

Mix the flour with a pinch of salt on the work surface and make a well. Add the egg, the oil and the warm water a little at a time, and knead for about 8 minutes into a smooth, soft dough that does not stick to your hands. Cover and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
20 min
Tip: Resting relaxes the gluten, so the dough rolls out thin without shrinking back and does not tear when you pinch it. Warm, not hot, water keeps it pliable; hot water would start cooking the egg.
Boil and mash the potatoes. Chop the mushrooms and fry them with the onion in the oil over high heat until all the moisture has gone and they are browned. Season, mix into the mash and let it cool.
30 min
Tip: Mushrooms are mostly water; frying them until the pan is dry concentrates their flavour and stops the filling going wet. Add salt only at the end so they brown rather than stew.
Roll the dough out to about 2 mm and cut rounds with a glass or a 7 cm cutter. Put a spoonful of filling in the middle of each round, fold it over and pinch the edge firmly shut, making sure no filling or juice is caught in the seam. Keep the dough you are not using covered.
25 min
Tip: A seam with any trace of filling on it will open in the boiling water. Covered dough stays soft; left in the open it dries at the edges and will not seal.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil and add the vareniki in batches, stirring once so they do not stick. When they float, cook for 3–4 minutes more, then lift out with a slotted spoon.
5 min
Tip: A large pot and small batches keep the water from going off the boil and the vareniki from sticking to one another. Floating means the dough is cooked through; the extra minutes cook the filling and set the seam.
Serve hot with sour cream and chopped dill.
2 min
Tip: Fresh dill and cool sour cream lighten the earthy flavour of the filling.