1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Add olive oil. Mix well and add about 240 ml / 1 cup of hot water. Once combined roughly with a wooden spoon, start bringing the dough together with your hands. If after a little bit of kneading the dough isn’t holding together (initially it’s supposed to be a bit dry to the touch but hold together), it may need a bit more hot water. It is very important to add the water in very small amounts as too much water will negatively affect the dough. Knead it for about 5-10 minutes with your hands (after kneading, the dough should become very smooth and elastic, but not sticky) and then set aside for 30 minutes under a damp kitchen towel so that the dough doesn’t dry up.
2. Once the dough has had a chance to rest, grab a portion of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. You want it to be about 1-2 mm thin; the thinner the dough, the tastier the dumplings. With a cookie cutter or an upside down glass, cut out circles in the dough. Place a small amount of filling in the centre of each circle, fold the circle in half and press the edges of the semi-circle together with your fingers. Go over each dumpling twice to make sure everything is sealed completely. Put the finished dumplings on a lightly floured surface and cover them with a damp kitchen towel while making the rest so that they don’t dry out. Continue in the same way until you’ve used up all of the dough or the filling.
3. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Once the water is boiling, throw in 10 dumplings at a time and from the moment the water comes to the boil again cook for 5 minutes (depending on how thick your dough is). Once the time is up, fish them out with a slotted spoon and place on a clean plate. Put a new batch in until you have cooked them all.
4. OPTIONAL STEP: Heat up a little olive oil in a pan and place the cooled-down (they should be cold!) dumplings in the pan. Turn them after they’ve browned on one side. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the pan and do not turn the dumplings too early as they may start falling apart.
5. Whilst you are frying your dumplings, warm up the rest of your sautéed onions, season them with salt and pepper and serve with your dumplings.

FILLING

1. Heat up the olive oil in a large pan. Gently fry diced onions until translucent and lightly caramelised. Some of them will go into the filling and the rest will be used as topping. Remove half of the fried onions and oil and set aside for the topping.
2. Next add in garlic cloves and fry on a gentle heat for a few minutes, stirring the whole time.
3. Add chopped mushrooms into the pan, allow them to fry off for 5-10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
4. Add chopped cabbage, sauerkraut, porcini stock, finely chopped porcini mushrooms, salt, thyme, smoked paprika and a good grind of black pepper.
5. Sauté until the cabbage has been cooked and all the moisture has cooked out of the filling. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Allow the mixture to cool completely before filling the pierogi.

WALNUT CRUMB

1. Dry roast walnuts on a hot pan. Agitate them often as they burn easily. Allow them to cool down completely.
2. Pound toasted and cooled walnuts into a crumb in a pestle and mortar.
3. Add nutritional yeast, chopped rosemary and a good pinch of salt. Mix together well. Store in an airtight jar. Sprinkle over pierogi, pasta, risotto, salads.