Homemade Potato And Cheese Pierogies / Old Fashioned Perogies

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 tablespoon grated onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups cold mashed potatoes
• 1 cup cottage cheese (or more)
• salt and pepper
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 3/4 cup warm water

Recipe

• 1 potato and cheese filling: cook the onion in butter until tender.
• 2 combine it with potatoes and cheese.
• 3 season to taste with salt and pepper.
• 4 vary the proportions and ingredients in this recipe to suit your taste.
• 5 mix the flour with the salt in a deep bowl.
• 6 add the egg, oil and water to make a medium soft dough.
• 7 knead on a floured board until the dough is smooth.
• 8 caution: too much kneading will toughen the dough.
• 9 divide the dough into 2 parts.
• 10 cover and let stand for at least 10 minutes.
• 11 prepare the filling.
• 12 the filling should be thick enough to hold its shape.
• 13 roll the dough quite thin on a floured board.
• 14 cut rounds with a large biscuit cutter, or as most old-world grandmothers did, with the open end of a glass.
• 15 put the round in the palm of your hand.
• 16 place a spoonful of filling in it, fold over to form a half circle and press the edges together with the fingers.
• 17 the edges should be free of filling.
• 18 be sure the edges are sealed well to prevent the filling from running out.
• 19 place the pierogi on a floured board or tea towel and then cover with another tea towel to prevent them from drying out.
• 20 cooking: drop a few pierogies into a large quantity of rapidly boiling salted water.
• 21 do not attempt to cook too many at a time.
• 22 stir very gently with a wooden spoon to separate them and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• 23 continue boiling for 3-4 minutes.
• 24 the cooling period will depend upon the size you made it, the thickness of the dough and the filling.
• 25 pierogies will be ready when they are puffed.
• 26 remove them with a perforated spoon or skimmer to a colander and drain thoroughly.
• 27 place in a deep dish, sprinkle generously with melted butter to prevent them from sticking.
• 28 cover and keep them hot until all are cooked.
• 29 serve in a large dish without piling or crowding them.
• 30 top with melted butter- chopped crisp bacon and/or chopped onions lightly browned in butter.
• 31 reheating: one of the great things about perogies, is that they can be made in large quantities, refrigerated, frozen and reheated without loss of quality.
• 32 many prefer reheated perogies as compared to freshly boiled ones.
• 33 to re-heat, you can: 1) pan fry pierogies in butter or bacon fat until they are light in color or, 2) heat the pierogies in the top of a double boiler or in the oven until they are hot and plump or, 3) deep fry them.