Perogies

I made a bunch of mashed potatoes  that left me with a good amount of extra.  More than I wanted to eat today or in the next few days so I thought it would be a good time to make perogies.  You can freeze them for months solving the problem of  my large amount of extra mashed potatoes I have.

Perogis are an Eastern European staple.  I made them for my sons for their international day celebration this year.  Although mainly found in Eastern Europe they are very predominant here in Pennsylvania too.  As a matter of fact:

Pierogi are also commonly associated with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where there is a "pierogi race" at every home Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game. In the race, four runners wearing pierogi costumes race toward a finish line. 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg
• 3/4 cup sour cream plus more to serve with the pierogi
• 1/24 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• butter and onions for sauteing
• ingredients for filling of your choice (potato & cheese filling recipe below)

Directions:

Pierogi Dough

To prepare the pierogi dough, mix together the flour and salt. Beat the egg, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Add the 1/2 cup sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its stickiness. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or overnight; the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Each batch of dough makes about 20 some pierogies, depending on size. Mine are big.

Prepare the Pierogies

Roll the pierogi dough on a floured board or countertop until 1/8" thick.

 

After the dough is rolled out place spoonfuls of filling on to it and cut out shapes around it.  Most perogies are semi circle but you can make the what ever shape you want.



I used a pizza cutter to cut around the perogies and then you fold the dough over and forn in to your chosen shape.  Pinch the side together so the filling does not come out and you get the "look".  If they wont seal well add a touch of water to the edges and it will seal much better.

Boil the perogies a few at a time in a large pot of vegetable oil. A few minutes on each side till they have a nice color.  Then set them on a paper towel to dry off any extra oil. Do not boil any you are going to freeze.  Place those ones in a freezer for a few minutes until they are just a touch frozen mostly cold but most importantly not sticky, once they will not stick together place them in freezer bags and they will be great to cook from frozen whenever you want them.

Serve with a side of sour cream and enjoy!