Polish Heritage

Ever since I made samosas a few weeks back I've been curious to see if I could make pierogies this way. As it turns out, you can! This method worked really well for me and definitely satiated my craving for good Polish food. Usually I only get pierogies once a year, which is at Christmas when my Mom takes the time to go through the pain-staking process of making them from scratch. I have to say that these tasted just about identical to the ones my Mom makes, though they were a little less pretty. However, I didn't have to use all the fancy kitchen gear, which was a big plus (that stuff can get majorly expensive and I don't have any of it). So here is the recipe I came up with. It seems complicated, but is sooo worth it! I wound up with ~26 pierogies using this recipe, which means I have a bunch for the freezer that I can defrost at a later date : ) Also, I recommend serving the pierogies with some nice delicious kielbasa, soooooo freaking good!

Recipe:

Dough:

3 c Flour
2 tsp Salt
1/2 c Butter
2/3 c Sour Cream
1 Egg
6+ TB Cold Water

-Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.
-Cut in butter until a crumbly mixture forms.
-Mix in sour cream and egg.
-Add cold water one tablespoon at a time until the dough forms into a ball.
-Knead on a floured surface for a few minutes until dough is smooth.
-Set aside and let rest.

Filling:

3 Medium Potatoes
2-3 TB Butter
1 Medium Onion, Diced Finely
Salt & Pepper
Garlic Salt
Cheddar Cheese

-Peel potatoes and cut into cubes. Boil until cooked through. Drain potatoes and place them in a stainless steel bowl.
-Using a pastry blender, slice potatoes until slightly crushed but not completely mashed.
-Melt butter in a pan and saute diced onion until translucent. Add salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.
-Pour sauteed onions into the bowl with the potatoes and add shredded cheddar.  Stir until integrated and cheese is melted into mixture.

Assembly:

Small Bowl Water
Large Pot Boiling Water
2-3 TB Butter
1 Medium Onion, Chopped

Method 1 (Makes triangular pierogies)
-Separate dough into 16 balls. Roll each ball out into a circle 5"-6" in diameter. Cut the circle in half. Each piece will make one pierogie. 
-Scoop a small amount of potato mixture onto one side of the semi-circle. Dab water along the edges of the dough and fold the dough in half to create a triangle. Pinch edges closed along seams and use more water if necessary to completely seal the edges.
-Drop 5-6 pierogies at a time into the boiling water. Once they begin to float after a couple minutes, remove them from the water using a slated spoon. Set aside on a jelly-roll pan.
-Allow pierogies to dry out sufficiently.
-Saute with butter and onions in a frying pan until lightly browned.

 Method 2 (Makes half-circle pierogies)
-Separate dough into 28 balls. Roll each ball out into a circle 4"-5" in diameter.
-Scoop a small amount of potato mixture onto one side of the circle. Dab water along the edges of the dough and fold the dough in half to create a semi-circle. Pinch edges closed along seams and use more water if necessary to completely seal the edges.
-Drop 5-6 pierogies at a time into the boiling water. Once they begin to float after a couple minutes, remove them from the water using a slated spoon. Set aside on a jelly-roll pan.
-Allow pierogies to dry out sufficiently.
-Saute with butter and onions in a frying pan until lightly browned.

Note: Usually you will run out of potato filling before you run out of dough. In this case, what my Mom always did was make noodles from the remaining dough. All you have to do is roll the dough out, cut it into thin strips, boil the strips, and air dry them then fry them up with the pierogies.

 

(Pierogies air drying)

 (Pierogies once cooked)