I saw this recipe a while ago and bookmarked it, thinking that it would be fun to try for an anniversary dinner. It seemed like too much work for just one night, so I made the dough and the stuffing the night before I wanted to serve the dish. Overall, we enjoyed it. I thought it was a fun new recipe to try. Since a certain someone can’t eat cheese, I had to leave the cheese out, but I would definitely recommend that you include it. The next time I made them, I would also fry them in the pan for a little longer to get more of a golden brown color. I think I was a tad too impatient. Enjoy! And thank you for reading.
Ingredients
Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4-6 tablespoons cold water
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, for frying the pierogi
Onions
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 large onion, sliced thinly
Stuffing
1 medium russet potato, peeled and sliced 3/4-inch thick
Salt
1/2 cup reserved caramelized onions, chopped
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Ground black pepper
1. To make the dough, combine the flour and salt in a food processor. While it is running, add the whole egg, egg yolk and vegetable oil. Combine well.
2. Also with the machine running, add the water (only about a tablespoon at a time), until a dough ball is formed.
3. Put the dough ball on a lightly floured counter and knead for about 2 minutes. Wrap very well in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use (I left mine overnight. I let it come to room temperature before using it the next day).
4. I also made the stuffing and onions the day before I made the dish. For the onions, start by melting the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. (You can also start step 7 at this time, as illustrated below).
5. Add the onions and salt and cook until the onions are brown and soft. (About 15-20 minutes). It will smell delicious.
6. When the onions are done, chop enough so that you have about 1/2 cup for the stuffing.
7. To make the rest of the stuffing, cover the chopped potato with salted water in a saucepan.
8. Boil the water and let simmer until the potato is tender. (About 10-12 minutes). Drain the water off in a colander and put the potato back in the pan.
9. With a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Add the 1/2 cup of caramelized onions, cheese and butter and stir until well-combined. Season with salt and pepper. I refrigerated this stuffing overnight.
10. When you are ready to make the dish, take the room-temperature dough and divide into two pieces. Cover one piece with plastic wrap.
11. Roll the other piece out onto a lightly floured surface until it is very thin (about 1/16 an inch. Although I never actually measure that. Just make it thin).
12. With a round cutter, cut out 3 in. circles of dough and place onto a floured cookie sheet (or any large floured surface). The dough was very springy and my circles were definitely not perfect circles. Just do your best and stretch them out a little with your hands if needed.
13. Repeat with the other piece of dough.
14. When you have all your dough circles cut out, place about 1 tsp. of stuffing into the center of each circle. With wet fingers (dip into a glass of water, you probably don’t want to lick them 😉 ), moisten the outer circle of the dough and fold over to make a half moon shape. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.
15. Keep each filled piergoi most with a wet towel while you are filling the rest. (If you want to freeze some, do so at this point).
16. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil (like a large saucepan). Add half of the filled pierogi and cook until al dente, about 5-6 minutes.
17. Remove with a slotted spoon to a colander. Repeat with the other half of pierogi’s.
18. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan. Add a small batch of the boiled pierogi. Cook until golden brown on each side (about 1-2 minutes). Repeat with entire batch.
19. To serve, sprinkle with the rest of the carmelized onions and sour cream (if wanted).
From the Curvy Carrot. Originally slightly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated: The Best International Recipe.
Someone else was being very helpful during this process…..
agirlacatandakitchen 