Pigu {Italian Gougères}
Here while back, I came across a recipe for Pigu. What the heck is Pigu I wondered? Well, basically it is a little dough like thing filled with romano cheese. You start out by making the dough much like noodles, but I almost think it comes out tasting more like bread than a noodle dough. Basically, it is like an Italian Gougères.
Okay, I’ll bite (for you)… what is a Gougères? It is a choux pastry flavored with cheese (usually Gruyère), then usually filled with a savory filling.
So, we have dough, check.
We have cheese, check.
Well, it’s like an Italian Gougères, correct? We’re going to go with it and run!
Pigu {Italian Gougères}
My Kitchen
First, let’s talk about my kitchen. I can almost officially say, IT’S DONE!!!
Why can I almost and not just scream it? Well, because I don’t have all my kitchen stuff moved in yet. I’ve been moving 1 box at a time. Plus I have to be careful because I can’t have anything on the counters yet. You know, a coffee pot, my Kitchenaid Mixer, a toaster, etc. Everything moved in has to be in a drawer or a cabinet. We’re not done with the dust yet. The dust in the house, not so much the kitchen.
But just because I can’t officially scream it’s done, it’s done. In fact, I have now baked a cake and made my first meal in the kitchen. Should I also mention that my stove isn’t actually hooked up to a big propane tank yet? Are you questioning me yet? Good! My stove is hooked up to a BBQ Propane bottle right now. Whatever, I have a working stove. I can cook and bake. That makes me happy!
Dinner
The other night I decided I was tired of pizza, burgers, tacos, basically… take out. Since my stove was working, I decided I was making Shrimp Fried Rice… but then changed my mind to make Shrimp Cakes. Yum! I asked hubby what he wanted as a side, he said grab red potato salad. I did but wasn’t totally feeling that.
That’s when I remembered that I had read a recipe for Pigu. It’s also on my bucket list. The story behind these cute little puffs of pillow pastry was Brown Eyed Baker eats them at Easter. Hello, this week is Easter. That meant now was as good of a time as any. If I didn’t do it this year, I’d have to wait for next year. Plus I had victims to try them on. Ha! I joke! I did have people at my house helping lay tile, trim, etc. That meant that I got to feed them yummy food. One of my favorite things to do!
Ingredients
Truthfully very few ingredients go into the making of these cute little pillow puffs. Eggs, water, vegetable oil, flour. And the quantities of each basically screams, homemade noodles.
You put the flour, make a well, add the water, eggs, and vegetable oil. Slowly mix in and incorporate. Sounds like noodle dough to me. Even the quantities are extremely similar. Now, I wish I would have had my kitchen fully stocked to do this… but I was working on a small counter space. Why? Because I had all the drawers and shelves out of my refrigerator sitting on the countertops. Don’t ask… yet.
Then the filling was made out of Romano Cheese, eggs, and pepper. As much black pepper as you could stand. Truthfully, I wish I would have used more. Way more. But not knowing with my first go-round, I stayed on the reserved side. Last month we went to Kansas City. While there we went to City Market and I bought Romano Cheese so I had fresh Romano Cheese. Yum!
I swear, mixing the filling looked like scrambled eggs. LOL. And don’t forget the black pepper!
Problems
Here is where I tell you about the problems I had. I was working on a cutting board versus the counter… so I was limited on space. I’m not sure I rolled the dough out properly. I also didn’t quite have enough Romano Cheese. So I made 18 instead of 25 of these little gems. Oh, and I didn’t have a brush for the egg wash so I used a spoon and drizzled egg wash over the top.
And because I probably didn’t roll my dough correctly, mine don’t look like little ravioli. I don’t care though because, YUM! That Romano Cheese was nice and tangy. The dough was perfectly baked. And it was all around… YUM! But again, don’t forget that black pepper!
Let’s just say… make these, make them now! In fact, tomorrow… that way you have them before Easter in the Lent season! You’re welcome.
Ingredients
- For the dough
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour(plus more if needed (dough should be soft and elastic))
- For the filling:
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 12 ounces grated Romano
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 egg plus 1 tbsp water for egg wash
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with Parchment Paper or Silpat. Set aside.
- Prepare the dough:
- Make a mound of the flour with a well in the middle. Add the eggs, water, and oil. Mix well with a fork, then start to incorporate the flour. Mix until it comes together. Knead by hand until you have a soft, smooth, elastic, dough. Add more flour or water, a small amount at a time to achieve this consistency. Set aside.
- In a small-medium bowl make the filling. Add the eggs with the Romano cheese and black pepper. Add as much black pepper as your taste buds can handle. Don't forget the black pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, 1/8-1/4 inch thick. If you have a noodle sheet roller, this would be handy, if not roll out with a rolling pin. Place 1 tablespoon of the filling about 2 inches apart on the dough. Then roll the dough over itself pushing out the air around the filling. Cut the dough apart into squares. Then using a fork or knife, make sure that the dough is sealed to itself.
- Place filled dough squares onto the lined baking sheet. In a small bowl mix egg with water. Using a basting brush, brush egg wash over the top of the pillow squares.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Pull out and enjoy.