How to make russian varenniki

For the filling make simple mush potato or use leftover mush

Fry chopped onion in 1 tbsp olive oil till golden

Add chopped mushrooms to the frying pan

Mix the mushroom-onion mixture with mush potato, season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to cool

For the dough mix 6 cup all purpose flour with 1-1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Add 2 1/2 cup iced water

Mix well till the dough becomes manageable to work with hands

Kneed the dough with force. It will not be flexible but the longer you kneed it the softer it'll become

Make a ball out of dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it rest for about an hour on your kitchen counter

The easy way to make round circles out of dough is: dust the work surface with flour. Then cut a piece and roll it out. Make it about 2 millimeters thin

Then carefully cut circles with a glass rim. Continue same process with the rest of the dough

Alternative way to make rounds out of dough. Take some dough and roll a thick sausage. Then divide into inch thick pieces

With your fingers round the pieces a bit

Dip each piece in flour and roll out each piece into large apple sized circles

Fill each bunch with filling before rolling out the next bunch of dough because it dries quickly. It will not stick together well after filling

Place the filling in the middle and close the ends (press tightly so it will not open during cooking)

You can leave it as is or...

Beautify your varenniki by making the ends look twisted rope

These are three ways to close varenniki. It maybe helpful if you make 3 different filling. This is how you can tell them apart

Make as much as you can to freeze it for future use

For cooking boil plenty of water. Add one bay leaf, 4-5 peppercorns, teaspoon dry dill and 2 tablespoons salt

Bring the water to boil and drop varenniki inside. Mix gently so they will not stick to each other. Cook for 6-8 minutes. Do not over cook

Freeze all uncooked leftover varenniki in a ziplog bag

Brash cooked varenniki with butter or olive oil for vegan version

Ways to serve: you may eat varenniki with butter. You may put a dollop of sour cream on the side

It may be eaten with ketchup for vegan version or Italian tomato sauce