Ukrainian Sweet Cabbage Varenyky (pierogi Dumplings)

Total Time: 36 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 6 mins

Ingredients

• 10 lbs green cabbage, trimmed and cored
• 2 (8 ounce) cream cheese
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 4 1/2-5 cups flour

Recipe

• 1 to make the filling: cut the cabbages into quarters. steam until very tender, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. drain and cool. in a strong but thin linen towel, squeeze as much of the liquid from the steamed cabbage as possible. squeeze only a small handful at a time. discard the juice.
• 2 grind the squeezed cabbage with the fine blade of a meat grinder. add the cream cheese and softened butter and season highly with salt and pepper. set aside.
• 3 to make the dough: whisk the egg, milk, water, and sour cream together. add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic. this may take 10 minutes. add as little additional flour as possible.
• 4 put ball of dough under an inverted bowl until ready to use.
• 5 to make the varenyky, cut the dough into 4 pieces. on a floured board roll out piece of dough into a round 1/16 inch thick. keep rest of dough covered. with a cookie cutter or glass tumbler (2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter), cut the dough into rounds. for each varenyk take 1 round of dough, stretch it a bit with your fingers, and spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cabbage onto the center.
• 6 fold the circle in half and press the edges together. crimp the edges with your fingertips into a decorative pattern if you wish. be sure to seal the edges well or the filling may fall out during cooking. put finished dumplings on a towel or tray that has been lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. continue rolling dough until all the filling has been used up.
• 7 bring a very large kettle of water to the boil. add 1 tablespoon salt to the water and cook about 20 varenyky at one time in simmering water until they are tender and float (about 5 to 6 minutes.) remove to a serving dish with a slotted spoon and dribble with butter and a bit of oil, to prevent sticking. gently fold the varenyky in the oil. leftover varenyky can be fried in butter and oil with fried onions.
• 8 makes approximately 8 dozen dumplings.