Vareniki with Potato and Cheese

About This Recipe

Vareniki are closely related to pelmeni but larger, most often filled with something soft and savory like mashed potato mixed with farmer's cheese, rather than raw meat. The dough is a touch more tender, sometimes enriched with a spoonful of sour cream or an egg, and rolled slightly thicker to hold a larger filling without tearing. The potato filling is mashed smooth with butter and mixed with farmer's cheese and a little sauteed onion, then sealed into half-moon shapes and boiled until they float. What finishes the dish, and what most home cooks consider non-negotiable, is a generous topping of onions cooked low and slow in butter until deeply caramelized and sweet. Vareniki are shared across Russia, Ukraine and Poland as ultimate comfort food, the kind of labor-intensive dish grandmothers make in huge batches for the whole family to freeze and eat over weeks.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 3 cupsall-purpose flour(plus more for rolling)
• 1egg
• 1 cupwarm water
• 2 tbspsour cream(for dough)
• 1 tspfine sea salt(for dough)
• 4russet potatoes(peeled and diced)
• 1 cupfarmer's cheese or dry cottage cheese
• 2yellow onions(one diced for filling, one sliced for topping)
• 6 tbspbutter(divided)
• 1.5 tspfine sea salt(for filling)
• 0.5 cupsour cream(for serving)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix flour, egg, water, sour cream and salt into a smooth, elastic dough. Rest covered for 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Boil the potatoes

   Boil the potatoes until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash with 3 tbsp butter.

3. 3

   Make the filling

   Saute the diced onion in a little butter until soft, then mix into the mashed potato along with farmer's cheese and salt.

4. 4

   Roll and cut

   Roll the dough thin, about 1/8 inch, and cut into 3-inch rounds.

5. 5

   Fill and seal

   Place a spoonful of filling in each round, fold into a half-moon and pinch the edges tightly closed.

   Crimp the edges with your fingers rather than just pressing flat — a proper crimp is what keeps the seam from opening in boiling water.

6. 6

   Make the onion topping

   Cook the sliced onion in remaining butter over low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deeply caramelized.

7. 7

   Boil the vareniki

   Boil in batches in salted water for 4-5 minutes until they float and the dough is tender.

8. 8

   Serve

   Toss the boiled vareniki with the caramelized onions and serve with sour cream.

Variations

• •

  Make a sweet version filled with sweetened farmer's cheese or fresh cherries, a common dessert variation.

• •

  Add sauerkraut to the potato filling for a tangier, more traditional Ukrainian-style vareniki.

• •

  Fry boiled vareniki briefly in butter for extra crispness on the outside.

Storage

Freeze uncooked vareniki on a tray before bagging; they keep up to 3 months and boil straight from frozen with 1-2 extra minutes. Cooked vareniki keep refrigerated 2 days.

Frequently Asked Questions