Pierogies

Pierogies are a wonderful polish pasta that have various fillings. Kind of like ravioli, but different. Tradition fillings are cheese and mashed cheddar potatoes, but they can be filled even with prunes!  Sometimes a soft goat type cheese is used.  My dad's family uses cottage cheese, that has been drained overnight.  The cottage cheese are my favorite.  They are so absolutely delicious!  But the potato are also great.

We usually fry these up in some butter, but they would be great smothered with caramelized onions or maybe dip the potato ones in sour cream. We make a meal out of them, but they would also be a great side dish.

This is a very time consuming recipe, that my dad makes once a year, usually around Christmas.  We usually triple the recipe.  This year, we didn't make them at Christmas, so in a team effort we made them at the end of January at my house instead.

These have to be frozen, or eaten pretty quickly, so they don't spoil.
I hope you try and enjoy!


PIEROGIES
from Aunt Kate

INGREDIENTS:




Dough:

• 3 c. AP flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. water

Filling:

• mashed potatoes- with cheddar cheese added during the mashing
• cottage cheese that has been drained in cheese cloth or fine strainer over night, uncovered

Topping:

• saltine crackers, ground in blender to fine crumb
  

DIRECTIONS: 

 Whisk together salt and flour in one bowl.  In another bowl whisk water into eggs.  Pour slowly into flour mixture, mixing with wooden spoon, followed by kneading until smooth and elastic.  Don't over work or dough with be tough.

Roll out on lightly floured surface or on silicone mat to about 1/8" thick, then cut into 3-4" circles (biscuit cutter works great!).  Roll each circle out to 1/16" thick.  Add about 1 TBSP filling, then fold in half, pinching the edges together firmly.  Make sure seal is very tight all the way around.
Boil in water until they float, 3-4 minutes.  Immediately place into cold water, remove and drain.  Layer in pan or container, sprinkling each with saltine crumbs as a coating.  Place wax paper or plastic wrap between each layer.

To prepare for eating, lightly fry in butter until golden brown and hot through, about 7-10 minutes.