Making Pierogi (Pyrohy)

My New Christmas Tradition

I'm back to blogging! 
I took a few months off to redirect my career path, and now I'm settling in to a brand new groove.
It has been a whirlwind few months, but I've been stashing away a few blog entries, waiting for a lull in the activity.

My first entry is all about my tradition of making handmade pierogi for Christmas.  

My Grandma taught me the basics of pierogi making (Ukrainian style, so technically Pyrohy making), but I've since found my own way... from dough to filling.  So this entry is NOT for a pyrohy/pierogi purist. These recipes are for a more modern home cook, looking to make some incredibly delicious carb loaded dumplings!

The BEST Pierogi Dough Recipe

4 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 Large Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Butter (softened and cubed)

1. Mix the Flour and the Salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of it.
2. Into the flour well, add your eggs, sour cream, and butter. Mix by hand.
3. Knead the dough for 5 - 10 mins. Until smooth-ish.
4. Cover, or wrap the dough in plastic, and let it rest for at least 30 mins.

**This recipe can easily be doubled**

While you're letting your dough rest, you need to make some filling! Everyone has their favourite, mine is saurkraut, my daughters is cheddar, and my Dads is cottage cheese. I made 4 kinds of fillings this year, and froze a bunch for quick meals when we need them.  I did 4 batches of the dough, and it made roughly 140 Pierogi. They freeze incredibly well, as long as you follow a few simple rules... I'll get to those in a minute.

​Cottage Cheese and Bacon Filling
1 container DRY cottage cheese (2 1/2 cups)
1 medium white onion (chopped fine)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 slices bacon
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 tsp each - garlic powder, onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry in a skillet until crispy. Drain on a paper towel and fry the onion and garlic in the bacon fat until translucent. Place this mixture in a bowl with the cottage cheese, mashed potato, bacon, and seasonings. 
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Cheddar Filling
2 cups hot mashed potatoes
2 cups shedded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together. It's important that the potato is hot, so it can melt the cheese quickly, with minimal mixing.
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Sauerkraut Filling
1 cup Sauerkraut (drained)
1 1/2 cups mashed potato
1 tbsp Butter
1 small onion (chopped fine)
2 gloves garlic (minced)
1/4 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in butter. Combine with the rest of the ingredients. If the sauerkraut makes the filling too wet, add more potato.
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Cottage Cheese and Spinach Filling
2 cups fresh spinach (roughly chopped)
1 small onion (chopped fine)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup mashed potato
1 container DRY cottage cheese (2 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup feta cheese

Saute the onion and garlic in the butter until translucent. Add the chopped spinach and saute just until wilted. Combine this mixture with the rest of the ingredients, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assembling and Freezing your Pierogis

First you will need your equipment...

1. Rolling Pin
2. Cutting tool (I always use a heavy glass)
3. Bowl of filling
4. Tablespoon (to measure filling)
5. Fork (to crimp edges shut)
6. Container of Flour (for dusting)
7. 2 cookie sheets (or more) lined with parchment or wax paper

Once everything is set up and ready to go, rollout a chunk of the dough (I usually cut the dough into quarters and deal with it one quarter at a time). Make sure you dust your rolling pin and your surface. You want to roll it to about 1/4" thick (not too thin or your pierogis will break when you cook them).

Cut out as many rounds as you can with your cutting tool (cup/glass). Put the dough scraps in a plastic bag to rest. You will be able to re-roll these to make more rounds, but not right away.

Take one round and measure out one tablespoon of filling into the centre. Be very careful not to touch the filling to the edges of the dough. Take the center of each dough edge and pinch them together, then work your way around, pinching the entire thing shut until you have a half-moon shape. Then you will want to seal the edges with the tines of a fork.

Place the pierogi on your lined cookie sheet, and keep going. Once you have a sheet filled, put it in the freezer to make sure they freeze properly. It takes mine about an hour to freeze, then they are safe to transfer to a labelled freezer bag.  I can usually stuff around 36 pierogi into one large freezer bag.