Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogi

Name: Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogi
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Polish
Ingredients: Plain flour; 1 medium egg; More water for dough; Sauerkraut; Dried shiitake; Chestnut mushrooms; Onion; Olive oil; Vegetable stock; Quark; Salt; Black pepper; Fat-free Greek yoghurt

Cabbage and Mushroom Pierogi, plated as one serving.

495 kcal a serving, against 656 for the traditional version. That is 161 kcal off, or 25%, with 21.1g of protein. Serves 4. 2 hours.

What the traditional version is

Classic pierogi filled with a mix of sauerkraut, wild mushrooms (dried porcini or mushrooms-foraged-by-someone's-aunt), onion browned in butter, and a dough made with flour, egg, water and melted butter.

What changed, and what each change costs

Butter in the dough swapped for water

Butter does wonders for the dough's texture, but it's the first thing to go when you're counting anything but smiles. Water makes the dough a bit tougher, but as long as you knead it well, nobody will get into a fight with their plate.

What it costs you. It's not as tender or rich, and you won't get that hint of dairy in every bite. For best results, roll it thinner than usual so you don't end up with chewy flaps.

Filling fried in minimal olive oil, cabbage stewed in stock

Onion, mushrooms and cabbage are usually cooked down in enough butter to scare a doctor. Stewing the lot in stock draws out flavour without all that fat, and a little olive oil gives you the savoury notes you need.

What it costs you. You lose those brown, caramelised bits that stick to the pan and make everything taste like Christmas visits. The filling is lighter and more acidic - not unpleasant, just not the same.

Frying step skipped; boiled only

The dream is always a crisp, golden bottom. The reality, if you're after something lighter, is to boil and stop. There's still plenty of flavour; you just sacrifice crunch for another day.

What it costs you. If you wistfully recall your last butter-fried pierogi, this may move you to poetry. If you've never had them, you won't miss a thing.

Quark added to the filling

Traditional recipes don't bother with dairy in the filling, but quark adds a good hit of protein and turns the cabbage less stringy, more creamy.

What it costs you. It changes the filling texture, making it creamier and less sharp. If you're a sauerkraut fundamentalist, you might grumble, but it's a small price to pay for a meal you can pretend is virtuous.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Plain flour
1 medium egg
More water for dough
Sauerkraut
Dried shiitake
Chestnut mushrooms
Onion
Olive oil
Vegetable stock
Quark
Salt
Black pepper
Fat-free Greek yoghurt

How it starts

Cover the dried shiitake with boiling water (about 200g).
Finely chop the fresh mushrooms, onion and sauerkraut.
In a large frying pan, soften the onion over low heat in the olive oil, then add the mushrooms (both types) and a pinch of salt.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Polish.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	656	495
Protein	15.3g	21.1g
Fat	26.6g	5.1g
Saturated fat	15.3g	1g
Carbohydrate	89.9g	91.3g
Protein per 100 kcal	2.3g	4.3g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Polish prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten, eggs, milk.

The method is in the book

If you've grown up eating pierogi fried golden in butter and drowning in sour cream, this recipe asks a lot. You sacrifice crunch and richness, but the essentials are still there: tangy cabbage, earthy mushrooms, soft dough and a bit of dairy for comfort. Is it a match for your gran's? No, but you can still walk after lunch, and you might even get away with a second helping without needing to nap. That's the trade. If you want to relive Christmas Eve with the full works, grease the pan. If you just want the taste of home on a Tuesday, these will do the job.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Polish, along with 53 more. Buy the paperback