Pierogies are Polish dumplings, and virtually any type of filling works from savory to sweet. II learned this recipe from Magda, our au pair from Poland. The dough is soft, tender, and not at all sticky, so you need no flour when rolling out the dough. This is important, because adding flour as you roll makes the dough tough. The typical filling is potato and cheese, but I've also included recipes below for two of our other favorates, mushroom and cabbage, and sauerkraut.This recipe makes approximately 36 pierogies.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Polish
Keyword: Pierogi
Servings: 6
Ingredients
2 1/2 cupsAll Purpose Flour
3 1/2 tbspbuttercold, cut into small pieces
1lgEgg
1/2tspsalt
1/3-2/3cupwater
Instructions
Measure flour out onto a rolling surface and add salt. Using your hands combine flour with cold butter until resembles meal. Pull flour mixture together into a mound and create a well in the center. Drop in 1 egg and 1/3 cup of water into center. Using one hand mix flour with liquid with one hand while keeping mound together with other hand. Add more water as needed to achieve a soft, smooth dough. Knead dough until flour is incorporated and forms firm ball. Cover in bowl with warm damp towel and rest for 10 minutes.
Use a quarter of the dough at a time and taking care to cover rest of dough with damp cloth to prevent it from drying out. Roll out dough onto smooth rolling surface until is as thin as possible, roughly an 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut into 3 inch rounds using a biscuit cutter.
Placing one round in the palm of your hand, place 1 tbsp of filling in center of the round. Starting at the top pinch the two sides together. Then working at each end, pinch together the sides. Be sure these are well sealed to prevent the filling from coming out during boiling.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop 5-10 pierogies into pot at a time, and boil for 3-5 minutes. Avoid crowding the pot, or the dough will get tough. Remove from pot with slotted spoon to drain, and place on non stick baking sheet. Once cooled they can be frozen, making sure to separate them when placing in the freezer. Defrost before cooking.
To serve, fry the pierogis in a skillet with 1 tbsp each of olive oil and melted butter until slightly browned. Serve with sour cream and chopped chives.