Hi there. These Mini MoFo themes are great. Not only do they keep hope alive that I'll come back to more frequent publishing, but I am enjoying the prompts. This month we were tasked with "stuffed!" I planned on making breakfast items for you, but as you'll see in the video I changed my mind. After the video there are the links to what I used, as well as the main recipe for the pirogi, which I veganized of course.
Let's go to the videotape!
Now that we've got that under our belt, let's see what we actually used:
Caramelized Onions:
Vegan Black Metal Chef method. If you don't have his "Seitanic Spellbook" cookbook, you're nuts, go and get it. For the onions, pull out your crockpot, slice your onions thin, cover with some olive oil, put the cover on the unit, set to low and go to bed. Stir when you wake up, and stir again before they finish. Give them a good solid 12 hours to caramelize. You'll want to kiss Chef for this, trust me. You can make these ahead. Make more than you need, and put them on everything else you make!!
Vegan Farmer's Cheese:
As I mention, I didn't even know what this was, so I googled it. This link provides the recipe I used. I would reduce the lemon juice by half. If you have a nut allergy, I don't see why you can't use sunflower or pumpkin seeds to replace the nuts. I have no suggestions for substituting the tofu on this recipe if you have soy issues. Make this at least 1 day ahead, it becomes more tangy as it sits. http://anunrefinedvegan.com/2012/10/16/veganmofo-khatchapuri-day-1-tofu-farmer-cheez/
Pirogi
Recipe adapted from The Essential Root Vegetable Cookbook by Sally & Martin Stone
"Russian Potato & Farmer Cheese-filled Pirogi in Sour Cream Dough" VEGAN STYLE FOR SURE!
Yield 70-80 3" cut pirogi
Pastry Dough:
3.5 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup vegan butter
6 tablespoons aquafaba
1 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti brand)
extra aquafaba for sealing/wash
Filling:
1.5 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled/quartered
3T olive oil
1 med/large onion minced (NOTE: I CARAMELIZED THE ONIONS AHEAD OF TIME USING VEGAN BLACK METAL CHEF METHOD)
3/4 pound vegan Farmer's cheeze (see link from An Unrefined Vegan above!)
1 t sea salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 cup vegan butter (for the topping if desired, this is not for the filling!)
Vegan Farmer's Cheeze:
Use the link above, you need to make this 1 day ahead or more.... I did mine 4 days ahead of time, it was still great!
Make the pirogi as follows:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder & 1 tsp salt. With your fingers or a pastry cutter work quickly and rub in 1/2 cup vegan butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. In another bowl mix the 6 T aquafaba (I did this part in a stand mixer and whipped the AF for about 4 minutes, you don't have to, just use it straight), then mix in the vegan sour cream until well combined; add this to the flour mixture, and gently combine with your hands til mixed.
When well combined, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and either knead with your hands til smooth or do this in your stand mixer using a dough hook til it's smooth and pliable, adding flour if you need just a bit at a time to prevent sticking (I didn't add any flour). Divide dough in half, make into discs and wrap with cello wrap, chill about 30 minutes or til needed.
To prepare your filling, place your potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with water (salt if you want, I didn't). Bring to a boil, reduce to medium and cook til tender. Drain and cool. When potatoes are cool, mince your already caramelized onions, measure out your Farmer's Cheeze and combine those ingredients in a bowl, with about 1 tsp sea salt, and 1 tsp black pepper (I used a little more pepper). Combine well.
On a floured surface, roll your dough out thin (it will act very elasticy the more you work it, work fast and keep the dough cool) Roll thin! About 1/8" at most. Using a 3" biscuit cutter (use a glass if you don't have one) cut out rounds til your dough is done, I got about 75 of them! Measure out about 1 tsp of filling for each pirogi and place onto each round. Fold the rounds in half, pinch very well closed, and then press with a fork to make a decorate edge (this seals them even better). Place the pirogi on a floured towel. If you're not going to cook them right away, place them on baking trays in a single layer, freeze, then when frozen store them in containers in your freezer.
To cook, bring a large pot of water (salt if desired, I do not) to boil. Add a few pirogi at a time to the water, when they float, cook about 3 minutes, remove with slotted spoon to a platter. Keep warm as you cook the rest. When ready to serve, either use vegan butter, brown gravy, red sauce, or whatever. The original recipe said to saute more onions ... seriously? Plenty here for me, no more onions.
I used the Yup It's Vegan rice paper bac'n recipe, and made some bak'n bits, which I sprinkled over the top with cracked pepper and a little vegan butter.
This recipe is worth making! Here's a few pictures:
 |
| As you can see, not all were perfectly round as I worked. Using a 3" biscuit cutter on the dough works perfectly, however the dough is quite elastic. This works against us when cutting but works in our favor when shaping after filling! |
 |
| Look at all these beauties! |
 |
| After ya pinch them, press the edges gently with a fork. Makes a pretty pirogi and keeps the filling in nicely. |
 |
| Divine perfection. |
Vegan Hand Pies as shown in video:
Recipe adapted from puffpastry.com (Pepperidge Farms, can you believe it?)
3T aquafaba
2T flour
1 package (17.3 oz) puff pastry sheets, thawed
4 ounces vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti brand yellow label) softened
2T sugar (I use organic vegan sugar)
1/2 cup chopped vegan chocolate of choice
6 oz minced strawberries (or fruit of choice... wait til mango season!!!!)
3T coarse sugar for sprinkling on top, and more aquafaba
 |
| Not bad for first time on a whim! |
Sprinkle work surface with flour, and roll out 1 sheet of pastry. Either using a 3" round cutter, or just cut square to save dough, make 12 individual pieces, equally. Repeat with other sheet.
Stir the Tofutti and sugar in a bowl, stir in chopped chocolate chips or whatever you're using. Brush the edges of the bottom pieces of pastry with the aquafaba, put about 1T of Tofutti mixture in center of each pie, top with about 1 T of diced berries, cover with top piece of pastry, seal tight. Either make a decorative boarder or use a fork and seal again. Place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Brush tops with more aquafaba, cut small vent holes in top of each pie, sprinkle with decorative sugar. Bake in preheated oven (I baked at 325 for convection) about 20 minutes, use 350 if non-convection. Bake til golden.
Whew!
That's a lot of typing.
There it is. Get stuffed, vegan style!
