Adventures of a Chef on the Run: Pierogies

I love pierogies.  For most of my life, I existed off of the store bought frozen boxed version, Mrs. T's with occasional glimpses of authentic pierogies here and there.  It's something I've always wanted to know how to make, but oddly enough something I've struggled with too. The dough is tricky, as you want it to be a cross between a dumpling and a noodle in texture.  I set out upon finding a better recipe and I did in the One Potato, Two Potato cookbook, although I follow it loosely. 

Above is the ingredients and tools I use to make pierogies happen here.  The only tool not shown is a large metal cup that I use to cut the round shapes in the dough.  I made a lot more filling than will accommodate this dough recipe, as I use it later in other recipes including more pierogies. 

Dough:

2.5 c all purpose flour

1 t salt

1.5 T melted butter

1 large egg

Cold water

Filling

1 lb potatoes

4 T butter

Milk

Salt

Pepper

1 chicken bullion cube(or vegetarian, if you'd like. Just makes the potatoes more flavorful.)

5 strips bacon(can be left out)

Cheese(shouldn't be left out), .5-1 cup

Start by getting the filling started.  Chop the potatoes up into even sized cubes and put them in a large pot.  Size doesn't matter as long as they are even sized, although smaller cubes seem to cook faster. Fill the pot once all potatoes are chopped until the potatoes are just covered and add the bullion cube.  

Put on high heat and boil until very soft.

Combine all ingredients for the pierogie dough save for the water.  Add this gradually, a bit at a time until the dough comes together completely and is still workable by the hands.  

With a small amount of flour, knead the dough until it's smooth in texture. Allow the dough to rest in a bowl for an hour. In this time, finish the filling.

Cook the bacon thoroughly until it's finished, then chop into small pieces.

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water from them and transfer them to a bowl.  Add the butter, cheese, milk and bacon and use a hand mixer to combine. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste as well. 

Add milk periodically until your filling looks like the photo above.  

Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface.  Roll it out flat until its about an eighth of an inch thick.

Use a 4 inch cutter or cup in my case to make the round shapes in the dough. In another large pot, bring a gallon or so of water to a boil, using to salt to speed the process. This will be used later once the pierogies are formed.

Put a little filling in the center of the round and fold over.  Pinch the edges all the way around to seal the filling inside.  Getting the right amount of filling can be right as it's kind of hard to seal a pierogie that's been overfilled. Play around to get it right.

It should look something like this. Just keep at it until they're all done.  Re-roll out the dough until you've used it all.

Add the pierogies, one at a time until the bottom of the pan is covered.  Allow them to boil and float to the surface, like the ones in the second photo before removing from the water. Sometimes a stir is necessary to release stuck pierogies from the bottom of the pan.

Transfer to a plate or other surface to cool while the rest cook. 

My best suggested method of serving is to sautee in butter at medium high temperatures until golden brown. 

You can also eat them boiled, tossed with butter or anything else you come up with.  They are versatile and delicious.  These are a polish classic I actually haven't seen in Acapulco.  The fillings are versatile as well, as there are a million ways to fill a peirogie.  There are dessert pierogies for example, with things like cream cheese and strawberries in the center. The closest thing I've found to a pierogie here is an empanada, which is generally a sweet thing in my experience filled with sweetened rice or something similar. One thing I love about cooking here is I can bring foods from home and produce them in a way that many at home can't even do.