Don'tcha Wish Your Girlfriend Could Cook Like Me?

A Recipe Worth Waiting For - Potato and Cheese Pierogi

Here it is the end of March.  How did we get 3 months into the year already?  

I thought It was past time to share another recipe.  This would be a wonderful side dish for your upcoming EASTER dinner!  

These little cheese and potato filled ravioli have been one of my favorite things since I was a child.  My Great Aunt Rosie would come visit my Grandma Ruth every few years and when she would come it was Pierogi making time!   Unfortunately we would eat those up just as fast as possible ( even when we managed to freeze some) and would end up buying Mrs. T’s Pierogies from the grocery store until Aunt Rosie visited again.  

They are actually very good, but nothing beats home made! 

We tried to make some once at my mom’s,  but we did something wrong with the dough and they were not very good.   Since then I was always afraid to attempt making them.  Then a couple years ago I found a recipe online and decided to give them a try!  I’m so glad I did.  My hubby and kids love them!  It is a CHEAP and filling side dish too.  Perfect for those on a budget.  Also time saving as you can freeze them for future meals!

My family has always called them “Padoughies” instead of “pierogies” and this is what my kids will call them.  It’s a pretty fitting name!  

They are super easy ( though a little time consuming) to make and are SO worth it!  I always make at least a double batch as I like to freeze what we aren’t going to eat.  They freeze wonderfully!  

Let’s make the filling first, shall we?  

Start with regular old taters!  Boil them just like you would for mashed potatoes!  Drain them.

Add your cheese, butter , salt and pepper.  Your cheese can be whatever you like.  We have always used Cheddar.  I like SHARP Cheddar.

Mashy…mashy!  Note:  My Great Aunt Rosie’s potatoes would have been a MUCH darker shade of orange!  She didn’t quit putting cheese in hers until they potatoes were the same color as the cheese!  I was trying to be somewhat health conscious.

Now set this aside, (it won’t hurt it to sit out, but put it in the fridge if you’d like. )

 In your mixing bowl put your flour, salt and pepper.  Make a “hole” in the middle for your eggs.   

Add Sour Cream

Mix everything.  Then let stand 10 minutes.  

By the way…THIS is MARGE.  Have you named your Kitchen Aid mixer?  It MUST be done.  

Now, you can either transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead it…OR be LAZY like me and use the dough hook!  

Notice how not smooth and not lovely my dough is?  This dough is SO forgiving! 

Cut dough into pieces.  I made a double batch so mine is cut into Eighths.  

Wrap in Saran or and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You may even want to make it a night ahead of time.   I’ve left it in the fridge for as long as 2 days and it still worked fine.   

Now roll out your dough.  The directions call for a “round” 11 inch circle.  11 inches helps you determine the thickness.  After doing a couple you’ll get a feel for how thick the dough should be.  

Cut your circles.  Use a 4 inch biscuit cutter ( if you have one).  A margarita glass is about the perfect size as well.  Some of you may have a cookie cutter that size.   If you don’t have that either ( like me) then you find a wide mouth glass and use that.  This makes a “traditional” sized pierogi.  If you want them a little bigger or smaller that is fine too.  I made small tiny ones for my 8 month old to pick up and they turned out just as good as the big ones.  

Scoop your potato filling onto the dough.  This may take some trial and error as far as size of filling goes.  You don’t want to put so much in that it tears the dough. The water is for moistening the edges of the dough.  

Dip your finger in the water and moisten the edges of your circle.  Then fold one end over to the other and press edges together forming a seal.  

You’ll want to make sure the seal is good and that there are NO holes in the sides of your dough.  If there are, when you go to cook it the potato filling will leak out.  

If you have a hole, you can either try to salvage the potato filling for another pierogi and toss the dough, or just toss the whole thing.

At this point you can toss them into a pot of boiling  salted water.  I usually do 7-9 at a time. Cook for about 5-7 minutes They sink when you put them in and when they float they are done (sometimes it’s only 4 minutes or so). I usually let them float for at least a minute and pull them out and drain them.  

Alternatively, you can lay them out on a baking sheet after sealing and freeze them.  I’d let them freeze for at least a few hours then transfer them to a freezer safe Ziploc bag.  They keep for several months.  

When you are boiling frozen ones they’ll take just a tad longer to float.  

Before pan frying the pierogi, I saute`onions in butter.  I then remove the onions from the pan and brown the pierogi on both sides.  After that I add the onions back in with the pierogi and cook them together for a few minutes. 

Dinner is served!  We love ours with steak or tri-tip!  Will go with pretty much any meat though and would work perfect for Easter dinner with ham!