Ruskie Pierogi (Pierogi With Cheese & Potato Filling)

littleturtle's Note:

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.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 24.0 pierogi

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
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• pepper , to taste

Dough

• 2 ¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter , cut in pieces
• 1 large egg , at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk , at room temperature
• ½ 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

[Chef #709361]

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 of 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!

[lauralie41]

I am not sure what I did wrong with the dough but I made it twice and had a very sticky dough that was hard to work with. When rolling all it wanted to do was stick to the rolling pin and the counter even after I floured everything. Was afraid I was using way to much flour to make the dough edible after boiling. When I made these with my aunt years ago the dough was not this sticky. The first batch I left in the refrigerator all afternoon and the next batch I left overnight. The filling was tasty but I just couldnt get the dough to work for me. I will not leave any star rating as I see there was a five star review and the problem must have been something I was doing wrong. Sorry littleturtle that I couldnt get this to work and leave a great review. Tagged for the Please Review My Recipe tag game. UPDATE: I can not leave a no star review so the star rating is for the filling.