Leftover turkey and mashed potato pierogi soup

If your family is anything like mine, then for some surprising reason, they insist on making an enormous turkey for Thanksgiving… only to have a ton of leftovers for the next few days. Now, I love turkey sandwiches as much as the next Seinfeld fan does, but I can only eat so many of them. How else could we possibly begin to dig into our mountain of Turkey day food? Enter turkey and mashed potato pierogi soup.

Made exclusively with the contents of my fridge and adapted from Foods of Jane‘s grandma’s pierogi recipe.

What you’ll need

For the soup

• 1 quart of veggie stock (I made my own but store bought is always fine too!)
• 1 quart of water
• 1 tablespoon of oil (I used olive)
• Half a white onion, chopped
• 3 large carrots, chopped
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 cup of chopped broccoli
• 2 cups of leftover turkey, shredded
• Salt, pepper, bay leaf, parsley

For the pierogi

• 2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes (for filling)
• 1/2 cup of ricotta (for filling)
• 1.5 cups of all purpose flour (for dough)
• 1 egg (for dough)
• 1/4 cup of milk (for dough)
• 1/4 cup of ricotta (for dough)

** Feel free to adjust ingredients based on what you have in your fridge/ leftover from the holiday. You can always sub ricotta and cream cheese, for example.

How to make it

1. Begin making the dough. Add your flour to a bowl and create a well. Crack your egg, add your milk and ricotta, and stir to combine the liquid ingredients and break up the egg. Slowly incorporate flour from outside of the well into the liquid ingredients until a dough forms. Let rest for 10 minutes once formed.
2. Combine your mashed potatoes and ricotta. Season as appropriate (if you’re like my family, your leftover mashed potatoes probably are already well seasoned)
3. Roll out the dough using ample AP flour. Cut into 3 inch circles.
4. Take a table spoon of filling and scoop it into a dough circle. Wet half of the edge of the circle, and fold into half moon, making sure you don’t have much air trapped inside. Use a fork to press closed.
5. Now it’s time to make the soup! Add your onion and carrots to the bottom of your pot with the olive oil and turn to medium high. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until onions become translucent. Add mushrooms and broccoli and cook for another few minutes, until all veggies have softened. Season as appropriate here.
6. Add veggie stock and water, as well as your bay leaf, and bring to a boil.
7. After boiling for ~5 minutes, add your pierogi. Continue to boil until they begin to float (about 4 minutes).
8. Reduce to a simmer and add the turkey. Continue to simmer until the turkey is reheated (another 2-3 minutes).
9. Plate and serve! I topped with green onions, but this would’ve been awesome with grated parm too.