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!
They were good but allot of work. I would puree the beet mixture rather than chop it. I probable not make them again.
Ok so I don't eat beets I used the dough portion of the recipe my husband no longer hates pierogies.
