Ruskie Pierogi (Pierogi With Cheese & Potato Filling)

Submitted by littleturtle

"A popular Polish dish similar to dumplings or ravioli. pronounced pyeh-RAW-ghee (this is the plural form, just one is called pierog, but they're so good you'll almost never eat just one.) Pierogi can be made with a wide variety of fillings, but the most common are minced cooked meat, sauerkraut & mushrooms, cheese and potatoes, sweet cheese (usually with a touch of vanilla) and blueberries (in summer). Other fillings include buckwheat groats, potatoes & onions and lentils. Common toppings include fried fat-back nuggets, sour cream, melted butter or butter-browned bread crumbs."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 24 pierogi
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• Filling

• 2 potatoes, cooked & mashed (1/2 cup instant or leftover mashed potatoes is fine too)
• 1 cup cottage cheese, drained
• 1 onion, minced & sauteed in butter until clear
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• pepper, to taste

• Dough

• 2 1⁄4 cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup reduced-fat milk, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature

• To prepare

• 12 cups salt water

directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients listed under filling and refrigerate until ready to assemble pierogi.
2. Combine flour, salt and butter in food processor.
3. In a separate bowl, blend together egg, egg yolk, milk and sour cream.
4. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and process until dough cleans sides of bowl and sticks together (the dough will be slightly sticky).
5. Remove from processor, shape into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
6. Cut dough into thirds; roll each section out on floured surface into 12" round.
7. Cut each round into 8 (3") circles (using a glass works well).
8. Place about 2 tsp filling on each dough circle.
9. Moisten outer edges with water and fold dough over to close.
10. Seal edges by pressing gently with the back of a fork or pinching together with your fingers.
11. In large pot, bring salted water to boil.
12. Cook 12 pierogi at a time, reducing heat to a gentle boil; boil until pierogi float to the surface (about 5 minutes).
13. Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towel and transfer to serving dish.
14. Repeat with remaining pierogi.
15. At this point you can serve them warm, freeze them for later use or fry them in butter over medium heat, lightly browning both sides before serving.

Reviews

[qnftkwh]

My husband lived in Poland for a while and asked if we could learn how to make these. He says that this recipe is exactly like the Polish grandmothers make. I think they are delicious as well. I don't change the recipe at all and they come out great. I freeze the leftovers before boiling rather than after, and after pulling them out and boiling and frying they taste as fresh as when they are just made. I think a lot of people eat them with a topping of sauteed onions and crispy bacon. That is delicious as well. Thank you for this great recipe!

 

[Andi Longmeadow Farm]

I was making all kinds of pies, so naturally having the flour, the chilled butters, the chilled processor out, I found this recipe and decided to make sure I made these. Since all my stuff was chilled, I didn't have a problem with the dough. The filling was easy to put together, and totally delicious! I kept to the recipe except for the fact, as I noted above, all was very chilled. It is very warm right now, and knowing I could never of worked with warm dough this went together easily. I immediately put it in the fridge to continue it story of being a pierogi. I made the potato stuffing from real mashed potatoes and we enjoyed these a lot. After I finished putting them in the boiling water, I then put them in the freezer, then when used, I put in a pan with cooking spray and a bit of Earth Balance, it gave it a wonderful crust. Thanks so much, little turtle!

 

[Sackville]

10 STAR ALERT!! Wow, I just can't express how wonderful these were. We had never eaten perogies before and my husband said he expected them to be bland but they were anything but. A crispy, golden outside after frying and a cheesy, creamy inside makes for a dinner to die for. How wonderful this recipe would be for a vegetarian dinner guest! They were much easier to make than I anticipated as well. The dough came together very quickly in the food processor and rolled out with no troubles after it had chilled. The total prep time was pretty accurate for me -- about 45 minutes of work from start to finish (not including resting time for the dough). The recipe made about 30 in total for me. We ate some fresh and froze the rest. When we wanted to reheat them I took them out of the freezer and let them sit on the counter for about 20 minutes. Then, in a deep frying pan, I added about an inch of water, brought it to a boil and put the perogies in for 2-3 minutes. I then drained the water, put the perogies on a plate and put some oil and butter in the pan and fried them as normal. Worked a treat. Thank you so much for an amazing recipe.

 

[Cacoking]

Everything was too wet to work with. After mixing the dough exactly as written, I ended up with what I would call a thick batter that was very sticky. I added 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra flour to get a very sticky dough. After chilling, I was able to roll out this dough w/o any problems. The filling is way too wet, too. If the cheese was changed from cottage cheese to farmer's cheese I think it would have worked better. I'm only able to find creamed cottage cheese in my area, and it basically does not drain well. The flavor the filling was delicious, but the next time I make these, I will try a different recipe.

 

[ICookwtlc]

Tasted just like the ones we had in Warsaw on our last vacation. I paired it with the Cabbage and Kielbalsa recipe from Ms MO and served that over top http://www.food.com/recipe/cabbage-and-kielbasa-172362