I LOVE expanding my know-how in the kitchen, and learning new recipes. My husband’s pap, who is hungarian, brought up pierogi a while ago, and being as how I am mostly Polish, I was embarrassed that I had NEVER even thought to make them before! I have only had them homemade once before, when I was very young, and I guess at that time they didn’t really make a huge impression on me, but NOW making my own food, I HAD to make them! So, this past Friday, I tried my hand at it, and I honestly have to say that they really aren’t very difficult to make! I didn’t plan my time very wisely so I ended up wasting about half of the dough (very sad!), but they were delicious, and the hubby gave them a huge thumbs-up, so that makes them a definite winner in my book!!
I got the original recipe from this lovely post HERE!
I started out by dicing up my potatoes and getting them boiled, starting a large pot of salted water to boil, as well as melting my butter for the dough, and warming up my milk.
I warmed my milk up simply by pouring it into the melted butter, and that seemed to work out nicely. Next, I dumped the flour on the counter, and made a well in it. I then proceeded to dump allllllll of the butter/milk and water into that at once…. which I definitely would not recommend doing! I had a hot mess for a minute, but quickly got it contained and all was well. I recommend adding just small amounts at a time, until it is all mixed in.
Once it was all mixed together, I kneaded it until it was a nice smooth ball, then covered it with a small mixing bowl, and allowed it te rest for about 20 minutes.
While my dough was resting, my potatoes were done cooking, so I drained them, and threw them in my mixer, along with the cheese, and whipped them up until they were nice and smooth.
After the dough rested for about 20 minutes, I divided it in half, and rolled it as thin as I could get (I tried to get the fork in the picture to show a size reference, it’s pretty thin!) I then cut the dough into rounds using about a 4 inch circle cookie cutter.
Once the rounds are cut, I put about a teaspoon of the potato mixture in each round, put a little water around the edge, and then brought the edges together. I made sure to smush those edges together, so they don’t come apart when they’re boiling. Once they’re ready, pop them into that pot of boiling salted water, wait for them to come to surface, let them boil for another minute, and they’re done! At this point, you can eat them as is, throw them in a bunch of melted butter and onions, or fry them up so they’re crispy!
We chose to fry them up with some ham, and they were deeeeee-licious!! Definitely a do-again soon!!
Simple, Easy Polish Pierogi
Ingredients:
Filling:
4-5 Medium potatoes, diced
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese
Dough:
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 Cup Warm Milk
1/4 Cup Warm Water (can add a little more if needed)
1/2 Tbsp Melted Butter
Filling:
Boil potatoes until tender. Drain, add in cheese, and mash until smooth; set aside.
Dough:
Put on a large pot of salted water to boil. Dump flour in a heap on a clean counter, and make a well in the middle. Combine milk and butter, and add slowly to the flour. Add water gradually until it is all mixed together, and knead until dough forms a smooth ball.
Cover with a mixing bowl and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes. Once dough has rested, roll out on a well-floured surface until very thin. Cut into rounds.
Place a teaspoon of the potato mixture on each round. lightly wet the edge of each pierogi round, and press edges together firmly.
When water has come to a boil, put 8=10 pierogi in pot at a time, and allow to boil for 1 minute after they have come to the surface.
Remove from water with a slotted spoon. Can be eaten as is, served with melted butter and sauteed onions, or fried for a crispy edge!
If you try this recipe out, I would LOVE to hear about it! Please leave me a comment below, and let me know what you think!!
Until next time, Jenn ❤
impassionedkitchen 