Vegan Curried Sweet Potato, Snow Pea, and Caramelized Leeks Pierogies w/ Lemongrass Brown Butter

Difficulty: 4/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 1/3 (3 being spiciest)

Prep & Cook Time: 80 minutes
Servings: 20-25 pierogies

The Challenge: Vegan Pierogies

Mmm mmm mmm mmm good.

Yep, that’s what you’ll be saying as you eat every piping hot pierogi in sight after making my newest creation. We’re doing a bit of fusion here between the Polish/Eastern European favorite and some delicious Indian flavors. So, yes, all you purists THIS IS NOT a traditional pierogi. Its NEW AGE as heck, and its balls to the walls absolutely DE-LICK-IOUSALLY good. See, I make up words too.

What we have created here is an amazing blend of the pierogi with awesome flavors. We start with currying potatoes and snow peas with curry powder, fenugreek, coriander, and other yum. Then, we blend in some downright FILTHY GOOD caramelized leeks that are also epically good.

We wrap this in a delicate pierogi dough made from scratch that you’re going to love, and then we top it off with a lemongrass and curry leaf brown butter.

For the Indian spices, we focus on fenugreek, curry powder, and curry leaves. Fenugreek is hard to find fresh, so we use the powder. If you can’t find it, coriander is a decent substitute for something you can find at the store. Fresh curry leaves are used in the brown butter. If you can’t find it, I would recommend subbig with cilantro.

And you’re saying I can make that EPIC dish in my own kitchen. AH HELL YA. You can. None of these steps are difficult, but I will make fair warning that this dish is rated 4/5, so its time consuming.

The payoff is straight BALLIN though, and it will absolutely be one of your favorite dishes. I immediately fell in love with it (okay I fall in love with most of my recipes), but I think you’ll really say wow … this is VEGAN? wow I made this? And yes, yes. WINNER WINNER Pierogi dinner.

Alright grab a napkin, wipe off that drool…

Let’s get into it!

Ingredients:

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Pierogi Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 + 1/4 cup warm water

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted

Caramelized Leeks

• 2 small leeks or 1 medium/large leek (dicing instructions in recipe)

• 2 tbl olive oil

• Spices: 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp curry powder, 1/4 tsp fenugreek (sub coriander powder), 1/4 tsp pepper

• 1 tsp lemon zest

• 1 tbl lemon juice

Curried Sweet Potato + Snow Peas

• 1 tbl walnut oil (sub other nut oils or olive)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 3/4 cup snow peas in pod, diced

• 2 cup mashed sweet potato (about 2 medium potatoes)

• Spices: 1 + 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (sub coriander powder), 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp coriander power, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

Lemongrass Curry Brown Butter

• 1/4 cup vegan butter

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1 + 1/2 tbl lemongrass, minced

• 2 tbl curry leaves, minced (sub cilantro)

Other

• vegan sour cream, optional

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Equipment You'll Need:

Mixing Bowls . Sharp Chopping Knife . Measuring Cups + Spoons . Cutting Board . Frying Pan (multiple) . Boiling Pot . Tea Towel (dish towel)

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Before You Cook:

• Chop + wash fresh ingredients

• Boil peeled sweet potatoes for 10-12 minutes to make mashed (need 2 medium sweet potatoes)

1. To start, add flour + salt from pierogi dough to a bowl. Whisk. In a separate bowl, mix water + melted butter. Slowly pour into flour mixture while stirring with wooden spoon until well mixed.

2. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes on a lightly floured surface.

3. The dough will be very soft and elastic when it is done. You should be able to pull it and its very stretchy. Roll in a ball and place into bowl that is rubbed down with oil. Cover with a tea towel and set aside.

4. For the leeks, place a pan on the stove over medium heat with the oil. To chop the leeks, cut in half, then in 2 inch segments, then cut longwise to make into small matchsticks.

5. Place leeks into a frying pan, cover and cook for 8 minutes, stirring every couple minutes. Add in spices. Cook 6 minutes. Add lemon juice + zest, and cook another 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

6. In another frying pan, add the walnut oil for potato filling. Heat for 90 seconds, add in garlic and cook 2-3 minutes. After, add in rest of ingredients. Cook 7-8 minutes.

7. After the potatoes + leeks are done, divide the dough into 2 parts and roll out till about 14 inches by 14 inches.

8. Using a glass with a 3 inch diameter, cut out dough rounds.

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9. To form the pierogis, mix the leeks + potato mixture. Then using a table spoon, scoop out a small amount of the mixture and place it on the pierogi dough. To form press the mixture down with your thumb and fold one side over to the other. Pinch the edges. Then use a touch of water on the fingers to run over the pinched edge.

10. Add pierogis to a boiling pot of water and cook for 4-5 minutes until they boil to the top. Eat them soft or you can add to a pan with 1 tbl of vegan butter and cook 7-8 at a time.

11. For the brown butter, add butter to a pan and cook for 7-8 minutes over medium-high heat then add in lemongrass + curry leaves + garlic in last couple minutes. Pour over top. Serve with sour cream and dig in! Enjoy!

Slowcooker Winter Vegetable Vegan Chili w/ Southwestern Green Hatch Cornbread I love my slowcooker. If you don’t have one, its such a godsend. Put in a bunch of ingredients and cook away for hours. It is super helpful for the hectic days when I don’t have time to cook something from scratch when I get home, but it still allows you to have a really delicious meal with homemade ingredients. For vegans, one of those classic slowcooked recipes is CHILI. First off, chili is heaven. Spicy, salty, soupy yum that warms your heart and is so good from fall to spring. You can have it more like soup, more like a dip, more like a topping on spaghetti (say what…check it out!), and more like stew. What I love about chili is its a great way to eat up a lot of your veggies on hand. Tonight, in celebration of the holiday season I wanted to celebrate winter veggies and pair it with EPIC cornbread that uses real corn kernels + green hatch chiles for a splendid bread that pairs well with our winter vegetable chili. I love to cook SEASONALLY. It is a great way to use what is locally produced, have a smaller impact, and cook from scratch. Seasonal + scratch = WHERE ITS AT!   Aggregate rating will show here Serves 8 Ingredients: 2 tbl olive oil, 1 onion, chopped, 2 medium garlic cloves, very finely chopped, 3 stalks of celery, diced , 1 cup winter greens (chard, collards), roughly chopped, 2 medium parsnips, washed, peeled, chopped into bite size chunks, 2 cups diced carrots (about 2 medium carrots), 2 - 14 oz cans of organic chopped italian tomatoes, 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, diced + 2 tbl adobo sauce, 2 cups low-sodium veggie stock, Vegan Green Chili Cornbread, fresh cilantro, diced, vegan sour cream, diced avocado,