When my coworker suggested I try making healthy perogies, I immediately said yes. I love a challenge! Not that it was very difficult, but I’ll admit I’ve never made perogies before. In fact, I thought the outer shell was some sort of potato mixture, and I planned to make the perogies purple by using purple potatoes. I was super excited by this notion, until I did some research on how to actually MAKE perogies. To my dismay there are no potatoes in the shell, which meant no purple perogies. I was saddened by this prospect, though I still planned on making perogies with a purple filling.
At the next farmer’s market, I stopped by Gold Forest Grains to pick up some freshly milled flour for the recipe. I came across black einkorn flour, an ancient variety of wheat, and got super excited. BLACK perogies with a PURPLE filling? That sounded awesome. Again, much to my dismay the flour wasn’t actually black. I suspected as much, but my hopes were high. I needed another plan, because I sure wasn’t resigning myself to a life of boring white perogies, not matter how purple the filling is. I changed my game plan.
So I decided to use beet juice to colour the einkorn dough pink. Pink perogies with purple filling? That just sounds too awesome to not try. And it worked really well; all it took was ¼ cup of that magical pink juice to turn the dough a beautiful pink. I made my purple mashed potatoes, and mixed in chopped basil and baby kale for some greenery and flavour. The pink faded when cooked, but I regret nothing.
These took a bit of time to assemble, but it was worth it. Will I be making them again? Yes, but probably not for a while. I don’t mind spending a bit of time making a fun recipe, but most of the time I prefer quick and easy recipes. If you give this recipe a try, make lots so you can freeze the extras.
You don’t have to use purple potatoes, and you certainly don’t have to add beet juice to make pink shells. (I should mention that the beets are only for colour, you can’t taste them at all). These will be just as delicious without the colours, trust me. Just do your thing. Also, the mashed potatoes mixed with basil and baby kale were AMAZING on their own, so at the very least you should definitely make those! They were such an unbelievably vibrant purple.
Basil & Baby Kale Purple Perogies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Adapted from The Black Peppercorn
Author: Nicole
Category: Main Dish
Makes: 36 large perogies
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 pounds Russian blue potatoes
- ¼ cup organic pastured milk kefir
- handful fresh basil, cut into ribbons
- handful organic baby kale, cut into ribbons
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Dough
- 4 cups black einkorn flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup filtered water
- ½ cup beet juice (preferably homemade)
Directions
- Chop potatoes and place in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook covered about 20 minutes until soft. Check them with a fork (or your mouth) to see if they’re done. Drain the water from the potatoes. Add the milk kefir and mash everything up well. Cover and set aside.
- Add the flour, egg, and salt into a food processor and process using the dough blade. With the motor running, slowly pour in the water and beet juice. Once the dough forms into a large ball, turn off the processor. Be careful not to over-process the dough or it will become tough. Alternatively, you can mix the dough by hand in a large mixing bowl.
- Chop the basil and baby kale and mix it into the mashed potatoes.
- Prepare your work area. Place a damp towel onto a baking sheet, and sprinkle it with flour to prevent the perogies from sticking. Have another damp towel ready nearby.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Cover the part you’re not using with a damp towel so it doesn’t dry out. Working with one section at a time, roll the dough on a floured surface until it’s ⅛” thick. Using a circle cookie cutter or the rim of a drinking glass, cut out circle shapes. Holding one of the dough circles in your hand, drop a spoonful of filling into the middle. Flatten it out a bit, then pinch the sides together to seal it into a half circle. You may have to push the filing around to avoid getting it caught in the pinching process. Remove some filling if it’s too full. Once the sides are pinched together, place it down on a flat surface and press the sides in with the tines of a fork. Place it on the damp towel, and cover with another damp towel to keep it from drying out.
- Repeat the steps above until you have run out of dough. I had extra filling left that I ate as is, because it’s basically just delicious purple mashed potatoes.
- To cook the perogies, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, drop the perogies in. Cook for 8-10 minutes, they are done when they rise to the surface. Cook all the perogies at once; extras can be frozen. Place some parchment paper between them so they don’t freeze together. After boiling, you can finish off your perogies by frying them for a few minutes on each side. Serve with onions and garlic fried in avocado oil, a drizzle of milk kefir, and a nice green salad.
Notes & Substitutions
dairy-free // almond milk, coconut milk, or omit altogether
egg-free // use 1 cup water from boiling potatoes instead of egg and ½ cup filtered water
gluten-free // gluten-free all purpose flour
egg-free // use 1 cup water from boiling potatoes instead of egg and ½ cup filtered water
gluten-free // gluten-free all purpose flour
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