Easy to make because of such simple ingredients. I used whole wheat flour for my pasta. I baked some and boiled some of the pierogies, and found that I preferred the boiled ones. Great taste! My family liked these, and I will be making them again!
I'm giving this 5 starts because it has the potential to be that good, but needs some modifications. As is it is more like a 3 star. I have made this many times and usually double the recipe and cut the beets with a starch like potato or sweet potato. I start the filling by frying 4 cloves of minced garlic in butter, as well as the onions, and then proceed as the recipe says. When I blend the filling I sprinkle on a bit of salt as well. I use whole wheat flour (usually needs an extra teaspoon or two of water). After I boil the pierogies I usually fry them in butter with a bit of thyme, basil, or oregano. YUM!
These were really easy, tasty and a great way to use up leftover beets from another recipe. I don't think I rolled the dough out thin enough, and because of that they were a little chewy. I think next time I'll run it through my pasta roller to get it thinner. I will definitely make these agin.
I added 1 tsp salt to the filling otherwise followed directions exactly. I loved it but hubby said it tasted too "beat-y."
I pretty much followed the recipe exactly. These were only "eh." They really needed some sort of seasoning (salt at the very least but even after I salted them they weren't fantastic). They may have managed a 3 star review if they weren't also a lot of trouble to make. Tip for anyone who is still planning to try them.... don't go to too much trouble to make the thinnest dough possible. I had probably 3 times as many dough rounds as I needed (I put those in the freezer to make ravioli or something with in the future) and the completed pierogies didn't hold up very well. The last 5-6 I put together were fine but the ones that had been sitting there longer fell apart due to the moisture from the beets soaking through the dough. If you do want a really thin dough definitely get your water boiling ahead of time and drop the pierogies in as you go instead of waiting to boil them until they're all put together.
A warning to all those planning to make this dish; BEETS STAIN EVERYTHING! Don't forget this while you're working.
I enjoy the recipe, but I think next time I'll cut in some potato to mellow the beet flavour. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and it came out splendidly.
My biggest issue was presentation; if you get beet on your fingers, you're going to stain the outside of your pretty pierogies, so be careful!
I'm giving the initial recipe only 3 stars. It's okay. The amount of time it takes didn't really include all the rolling cutting out and folding so I'm glad I started with 120 minutes of time rather than the 85 minutes listed. I changed the recipe a bit which made it significantly better this time. First I doubled the dough recipe and used whole wheat AP flour. I kept the same amount of beets and added 1/2 lb of lean ground beef. I made the beets as recommended but added in sage and salt. I cooked the ground beef in a pan with garlic and pepper. Then I mixed the beets and beef together in a bowl and proceeded to roll out fill and boil as stated. After boiling I plan fried the pierogies in butter and sage before serving with sour cream. My husband and I aren't fans of beets but this turned out amazing!
Ok so I don't eat beets I used the dough portion of the recipe my husband no longer hates pierogies.
I followed the recipe but added a sweet potato along with the beets and onions and added some salt to the purée too. Overall the purée tasted rather good. The marriage of beets and sweet potatoes was successful! What I'd do differently next time is add more salt AND some black pepper to the beet mixture. Next I'd maybe try frying the pirogies in a pan. Also I'd trim off the excess dough from the pirogies after they've been cooked. I filled mine as much as possible but that extra dough is a little too much for my liking. These were quite easy to make as well as kind of fun. My children enjoyed them but I wouldn't say they were outstanding. Thanks for the recipe though!
