Ukrainian Perogies, for Beginners

Submitted by Kat2355

"Nothing is better than a fresh perogy, stolen from the bowl just after it has been cooked. Once a year, our family would spend a whole Saturday making these so we would have a stash to freeze and use for the next year. Fairly easy to make, but the instructions are just very descriptive."

 

• Ready In: 32mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Yields: 48 perogies

ingredients

• Dough

• 2 cups flour
• 1⁄2 cup milk, warm
• 1⁄2 cup potato, well mashed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• Filling

• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 2 -3 cooked potatoes, mashed
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

• Alternate Filling

• 2 -3 cups cottage cheese, drained (or use dry curd)
• 1⁄3 cup fresh dill, chopped
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper (taste before adding egg!)

directions

1. Dough--------------.
2. Mix dough ingredients together.
3. You may have to add more liquid or flour to make the dough soft and somewhat sticky.
4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead more flour into dough- just enough to make it easier to handle.
5. The dough will be slightly sticky.
6. Do not over-knead.
7. Place dough in an oiled bowl.
8. Cover and let rest for 30 minuets.
9. Filling-----------.
10. Cook onion in butter.
11. Mix with potatoes, and add cheese while the mixture is still hot.
12. You may substitute Cheez Whiz for the cheddar.
13. Let filling cool before using (place in fridge.) If you are using the alternate filling, simply mix those ingredients together.
14. Manufacturing--------.
15. Set a large pot of water to boil.
16. Form walnut-sized balls of the filling.
17. Roll out dough on floured surface fairly thinly (3 millimeters, or 0.125 inch).
18. You will probably need to add flour as you roll.
19. Cut out circles approximately 7 1/2 centimeters (3 inches) in diameter (a wider-mouthed glass should do fine.) Press scraps into a ball.
20. Place filling ball in center of dough circle.
21. If the dough has a less-floury side, keep that side up.
22. Fold dough over ball, and pinch edges to form a half circle.
23. To prevent perogies with"horns", I pinch at the top ("90 degree mark") of the perogy first, then pinch at the 180 and degree edges, working up to the 90 degree mark.
24. You can cheat pinching the perogies by smearing water on the filling side of the dough at the edges, and keep your fingers floured when you pinch (on the non-filling side.) In order to prevent perogies from drying out, keep finished perogies on a floured surface, and cover with a floured clean dishcloth.
25. Place several perogies in boiling water.
26. Stir once, gently with a slotted spoon.
27. Perogies are done when they float for a minute (this will take 2-3 minutes).
28. Melt about 1/2 cup of butter or margarine in microwave.
29. Rescue and drain the perogies with the slotted spoon.
30. Place in a bowl, drizzle with some melted butter, and gently shake to distribute the butter.
31. Cook, drain, and drizzle the other perogies in the same manner.
32. *Platzkies (pronounced "plutch-keys"): (The scrap dough is not tender enough to make into perogies, but make good"dumplings" by themselves.) Roll out scraps to approxamitely the same thickness as before.
33. Add minimal flour, and handle dough as little as possible.
34. Try to keep edges even.
35. Cut dough with a knife into strips about 8 cm (3 inches) wide.
36. Cut each strip into several triangles and/or squares.
37. Cook strips in water until they float.
38. Repeat draining and drizzling treatment as with perogies.

Reviews

[Lali8752]

These are just like my cousin makes (at last I don't have to BEG her to make them) Her MIL taught her to make them.

 

[LoveMyVeggies]

I grew up with Varenyky (Ukrainian version of Polish Pierogies) and this is definitely an easier version of my mother's recipe. That being said, I do think I prefer using traditional Farmer's Cheese (vs. Cheddar or Cheez Whiz) and making separate batches of cheese-filled or potato-filled. We usually have an assortment of toppings that foks can choose from -- sauteed onions, mushrooms, sour cream, applesauce, fruit compote, etc. Thanks for sharing your recipe - it's great to see these foods shared and celebrated!

 

[MmmrsBe]

My husband went crazy for these perogies! After boiling them I fried them up with bacon onions and butter and they were the best perogies my family has ever eaten... Even better than my Ukrainian great great grandmothers! I also chopped up about 4 bacon strips into the filling as well.

 

[Ciocia DD]

Very nice recipe. I like the idea of using dill inside the filling. In our family (Polish) we also use farmer's cheese with a little sugar to make sweet cheese Perogi. One thing we have started doing to cut down on the dough handling is to roll the dough into a long snake and then cut pieces to number to amount of small filling balls. Then each piece of dough is rolled flat and handled just once. I used your filling recipe, Kat, but stuck with the sour cream dough from Martha's Living website. Loved the dill with the sour cream dough. We, too, do this once each year. About a week before Wigilia (Polish Christmas Eve Dinner) we make many, many batches of perogi for Wigilia and as far into the year as they will last. To cut down on prep time before Wigilia itself we cook off a few batches of the perogi, cool them on Pam-sprayed cookie sheets and spray the tops with more Pam, then freeze the cookie sheets. We can then put all the cooked, individually frozen perogi into a bag to be "warmed through" in some simmering water on Christmas Eve.

 

[angel-blue-eyes22]

I love this recipe. I have attempted to make perogies before and there turned out horrible. This recipe was easy to follow, easy to make and tasted amazing. I found it was hard to roll out the dough thin, I sprinkled a bit of water while rolling out and found that helped alot. Other then that it was great