Polish-Irish Fusion: Colcannon Pierogi

Let me start off by putting this out there: I am not Irish. Not even a little.

But, in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, I am taking the quote by poet Thomas Augustine Daly to heart:

“For the whole world is Irish on the Seventeenth o' March!”

With that in mind, I decided to try my hand at making a Polish-Irish fusion pierogi. It’s a recipe that nearly wrote itself.

Just a little research led me to Colcannon, an Irish mashed potato recipe with mixed greens, onions and LOTS of butter and cream. Its basically a spin-off of the filling in a classic potato and cheese pierogi! Some recipes call for cheese, some don’t. Naturally, I decided to use cheese.

I decided to take my fusion pierogi up a notch and make green dough, dyed naturally with spinach. I’ve included that recipe here as well, though the traditional dough recipe also works just fine.

Ingredients:

For the filling:

• 2-3 small russet potatoes

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 lightly packed cups of chopped kale

• 2 spring onions (including the green onion greens), minced. You can also use green onions or shallots

• 2 cups cheddar cheese, preferably Irish (more or less to taste)

• 1/3 cup milk or cream

• salt and pepper to taste
  

For the dough:

• 2.5 - 3 cups flour

• 2 egg

• 1 cup chopped frozen Spinach, thawed

• 2 table spoons sour cream (or Greek yogurt)

• water (optional depending on dryness of dough)

For serving:

• 1/2 onion

• butter

• sour cream

Filling:

Peel and quarter potatoes. Put the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water by at least an inch. Add 2 tablespoons of salt, and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender (about 15 minutes). Drain.

While potatoes boil; de-stem and chop kale, mince onions, and grate cheese.

Using same pot, set over medium-high heat. Melt the butter in the pot and once it's hot, add the kale. Cook until wilted, about 3 minutes and then add onions. Cook for another minute.

Pour in the milk or cream and mix well. Add the potatoes and cheese. Reduce the heat to low.

Mash everything together, ensuring the cheese melts and is completely incorporated. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Green Dough:

NOTE: Free free to use my traditional pierogi dough, which can be found here. If you would like to get creative and festive, try out this green dough. As you can see from these photos, I used both the green and traditional dough, layering the two to make different designs.

Combine the eggs, spinach and sour cream the blender and puree until smooth. Depending on your blender, you may not be able to get it totally liquified, which is fine, but the smoother the better. As you can see from my pictures, my puree still has some small spinach bits.

Pour the puree into the flour and stir to combine, adding flour as necessary to form a mass.

Knead on a floured surface until it forms a dough ball about the consistency of play dough. Add water if needed, little by little. If too wet, add flour. Cover the dough with the bowl and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Using a pasta roller, start with a #8 and fold the dough through 4 or 5 times. Switch to a #7 and fold through 2 times. (If you don’t have a pasta roller, a rolling pin will work.) Continue this process until the dough is thin enough (about an 1/8 of an inch). We recommend stopping once you get to the #3 or #4 setting.

Assemble:

Use a circle cookie cutter or glass cup to cut out 2-3 inch rounds. Put circle of dough into pierogi crimper and fill with about 1 tsp. of potato filling (be careful not to overfill or it will seep out the edges and you won’t get a good seal). Wet one side of pierogi with water before pinching shut. Trim excess edges if needed.

Cook:

Place pierogi in boiling water. Once they rise to the top continue to cook for 2-3 minutes and then remove with slotted spoon. Gently dry off the pierogi and sauté in pan with butter and onions. Serve warm and enjoy.

NOTES: Pierogi can be frozen (either raw or after boiling) and stored in the freezer for up to three months. Freeze in a single layer on a wax paper lined cookie tray. Once frozen, transfer to freezer bags. On day of party, thaw and sauté in butter and onions and enjoy!