Home Cooking with Jess – Pierogi

While pierogis are an intricate homemade project, they are worth it.  This process takes me anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours depending on if I double the recipe, which I often do. 

I use a wider mouth wine glass to cut the rounds for the pierogis but they actually do have a little device to make the perfect pierogi size. An item to note is that you have to discard the unused dough when you roll it out, so make sure you are cutting rounds very close to each other to utilize as much dough as possible.

Once the dough is flattened and rolled out on floured service, it doesn’t combine back together well enough for you to reuse it and it gets very tough. 

I have my kids help pinch the edges with a fork and they enjoy playing with the extra dough, too.

It may take you some trial and error to get them just right.  Once you get the hang of making these pierogis, feel free to add other ingredients to the potato mixture like sauerkraut, meats or veggies.

Filling:

• 6 red potatoes pealed and chopped
• 8 slices of American cheese
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 tsp salt

Dough:

• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes until fork tender.
3. In a skillet, melt butter and add onion until translucent. About 5 minutes.
4. When the potatoes are finished, drain them.
5. Add butter and onions in a stand mixer or use a hand beater with potatoes.
6. Add cheese slices one by one until they are melted and fully incorporated.
7. Place mixture in refrigerator and let cool for half an hour. 

Dough:

1. Add flour to bowl.
2. Beat egg and add in water.
3. Slowly add water to flour, mixing with a fork until forming a ball of dough.
4. Leave the dough to set.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 
6. Flour your surface where you will be rolling out the dough. 
7. Take a quarter of the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin to about 1/8th inch.
8. Use a cup to cut round pieces of dough about 3 inches wide.
9. Take a teaspoon of the chilled potato mixture and place it in the middle of the dough.
10. Fold one side of the dough to meet the other, making sure that potato isn’t on the outside of the dough.
11. Crimp the outsides of the dough with a fork,  sealing the edges.
12. Discard unused dough.

The Final Steps:

1. Place 5 to 8 finished pierogies in the boiling water being careful not to crowd the pot.
2. They will only need to boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Once they rise to the top of the water, take them out with a slotted spoon and place them on a greased baking sheet.
4. Repeat process until all of the dough is used.
5. Once they are cooled, you can bag them in storage or freezer bags making sure not to overlap them. Or you can fry them in a pan with butter. 

It’s a labor of love! Enjoy!