Potato and Cheese Pierogi
Makes  ~40 small pierogi or ~20 large pierogi Double entire recipe and freeze some for later! The Dough:
2 cups flour 1 tsp salt 3 egg yolks 1 whole egg 2 TBL sour cream 1/3 – ½ cup cold water
Mix the flour and salt. Make a well in the flour and add the eggs and sour cream. Start stirring the center in small circles, adding water as needed. You want to err on the side of too sticky as opposed to too dry. I have also juiced an onion and substituted this for some of the water with great success. However, you *will* cry and your roommates will not be pleased. Mine weren’t.
Cover in plastic wrap and let dough rest in the refrigerator while you make the filling.
Potato Cheese filling: ( save leftovers for potato cakes)
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed. 1 medium onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 6-8 oz ricotta cheese ¼ cup cream cheese ½ cup shredded mozzarella 4 oz bacon, diced 3 TBL butter salt and plenty of black pepper
For dipping: 1 cup sour cream mixed with 1 tsp sweet hungarian paprika
Cover potatoes with cool water in a pot; bring to a boil and cook until tender. It shouldn’t take long after water boils. Meanwhile, throw onion in a pan with butter on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and bacon, cook on medium until onions are soft and browning. When potatoes are tender and mashable, drain and put back into pot. Add cheeses and onion mixture, and stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don’t undersalt! Remove pierogi dough from fridge and cut into quarters. On a floured surface, roll out dough very thin, using a 4” diameter glass to cut circles. I actually prefer making GIANT pierogi, cutting the circles 8” across. You can use a small plate.
For small pierogi, place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of each cut round of dough. With wet fingers, moisten the insides edges of the circles. Fold each circle over in half, and press seam together firmly with fingertips. Make sure they are completely sealed!
Bring a large pot of water to boil with a few teaspoons of oil. Â Add about 10 pierogi at a time (or 5 large ones) and once they float, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate or cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Do this with all of them. At this point, if you are making them ahead you may lay them flat on wax paper, not touching, in a freezer. After several hours you can just throw them in a bag together, but make sure they are 100% frozen before you do this. I like doing this because making 100 pierogi is not much more work than making 30. Sear the pierogi in a pan with butter and a little olive oil over medium heat until golden brown, and serve.
