The Deerslayer's Wife
Embracing the Hunting Lifestyle
Venison Pierogi
Delicious little pasta pillows filled with spiced meaty goodness. It’s the best description I can think of for the Polish dish called pierogi. Little Polish ravioli! There are several traditional recipes that include fillings like saurkraut or potato/garlic. Both are out of this world. However, the magic comes from the pasta that is made perfect with the addition of sour cream, rolled incredibly thin, enveloping a flavorful filling. For the sake of my readers, I’ve used some traditional Polish spices with some ground venison to create my own version of this traditional favorite.
Venison Filling
- 2 tsp. toasted caraway seeds
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1½ tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. white pepper
- 1 lb. ground venison/nilgai
- 1-2 tbsp. flour
Toast caraway seeds in a cast iron skillet.
Melt butter in the skillet. Saute onion. Add caraway seeds and remaining seasonings and spices, except venison and flour.
Stir until onions are transluscent. Add meat and cook until meat is browned and flavors are incorporated. Because venison (or nilgai) is being used, there will be no rendered fat to pour off, just lots of water.
Turn down heat and allow most of the liquid to evaporate. (Pouring off the extra liquid will waste a lot of the flavor.)
Sprinkle flour over the meat and mix in.
Dough
- 3 egg
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 3 cups flour (plus more to add if too sticky)
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
Combine all ingredients in bowl of mixer.
Mix until dough forms.
Flatten dough into a large disk. Cut into strips that can be rolled by hand or run through the pasta maker. To roll the dough out thin enough, I used my pasta maker. It produced a uniform thickness that worked really well with the round cutter.
The Deerslayer's Wife 
A pasta maker is a must for these. Matt’s family is Polish (as in, grandpa was born there, grew up speaking it), and I’m tried making both his grandmother’s pierogi recipe, as well as the German version of this dish (Maultaschen) without one. The pasta maker is really key. Your pierogi are lovely, and look delicious.
Thank you very much. They are Junior Deerslayer’s specialty. She coached me through this batch. They were really tasty, and I have to admit, I was very pleased that they were so pretty.
Looks good! I made pierogi on Friday too. It takes hours by yourself, but it’s so worth it!
What filling did you use? We really enjoyed ours. They’re gone already!
Just potato and cheese. And of course, lots of butter on top!
Beautiful pasta! That looks like so much fun to make!
It really was fun to make. I was very pleased with the results, too. They were a real hit. The satisfaction that comes from making something so pleasing to the eye (and tummy) …. priceless!
This looks delicious! I’m definitely going to save this recipe to hopefully try out later this year!
Thanks. Take pics. Let me know how they turn out.