Variations on these delicious dumplings are found all over Eastern Europe. Toss the shallots in a little flour and deep-fry for 1 min or until light golden and crispy. Can be made up to two days before and kept in an airtight container. To make the filling, heat the oil in a medium non-stick frying pan and pierogi dough recipe with sour cream and flour only fry the shallots for 10 mins until starting to turn golden.

Add the sauerkraut and cabbage, and cook for 5-10 mins until the cabbage has softened. Taste and add a little salt if under-seasoned, or sugar if stringent. Scrape into a bowl and leave to cool completely. To make the dough, mix the eggs and oil with 125ml water, then gradually add in the flour, mixing well with your hands. Knead it on a well-floured surface until the dough stops sticking to your hands.

You should end up with firm, elastic dough. Wrap it in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins, or overnight. Put 1 tsp of the filling into the centre of each disc. In your hand, fold in half around the filling and seal to create half-moon shapes. Put them on the floured tray, making sure they don’t touch each other. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and carefully lower the pierogi in. Boil them for 2 mins or until they float to the top.

Drain and serve with a knob of butter and some soured cream. Finish by sprinkling the crispy shallots on top to serve. The half-moon-shaped dumplings are called pierogi in Poland, and known as varenyky in Ukraine and vareniki in Lithuania. Pierogi ruskie, filled with potato, are the most well-known. Pierogi have been made in Poland since the 13th century and even have a saint associated with them, Saint Hyacinth. What is pierogi dough made from? It’s kneaded until soft and elastic and rolled thinly to enclose the filling.

The most traditional fillings are potato and soft cheese, cabbage or mushrooms, and sometimes the addition of meat. You can also find sweet varieties filled with fruit. What’s the best way to cook pierogi? Pierogi are usually steamed or boiled, then sometimes fried to give them a little colour. Leftovers can be fried in butter or deep-fried the following day. You can finish pierogi in an air fryer once they have been boiled or steamed, but you’d need to be careful that they don’t break up.

Pierogi can be fried to cook them the whole way through, but this produces a much tougher dough whether this is done in an air fryer or frying pan. Pierogi freeze well, so it’s worth making big batches. Steam the pierogi in big steamers, making sure they’re not touching each other, or cook them in a pan of water that you’ve brought to the boil then turned down a little. If you boil them, don’t boil them hard or they might break up as they soften.

Freshly made, uncooked pierogi can be frozen. Lay them out on a baking-parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure they are not touching, and freeze until solid. Tip the frozen pierogi into bags or containers and freeze for up to three months. Tough pierogi generally means that the dough is overworked. Make sure you rest the dough after making it and don’t handle the dough too much when shaping the pierogi. What do you serve pierogi with?