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The holiday pierogi-eating contest is a tradition in my husband’s family.
Every Christmas Eve his Bopchi - who is pushing 90, but still shovels her own driveway - makes hundreds of the pillowy dumplings. While I generally manage to put away a few pierogies (along with the usual kielbasa and galumpkis, or stuffed cabbage rolls) my husband’s petite cousin, Liz, routinely beats out her cousins, packing away as many as 20 pierogies before moving on to dessert.
And while I don’t recommend eating 20 pierogies at once, I do think that the feat is much more manageable with Bopchi’s pierogies than with a heavier packaged variety. Bopchi’s pierogies are light, fluffy, incredibly tender pouches of creaminess. She says it’s all in the dough. Add too much flour, or knead the dough too much, and the pierogies are tough. But with too little flour, the dough is sticky and unmanageable.
My favorite pierogies are filled with potato and cheese and topped with sautéed onions. They are also delicious filled with sauerkraut (drain a can of sauerkraut and sauté in butter before filling) and topped with crumbled bacon. Bopchi even says they are lovely filled with blueberries and served with sour cream.
Potato and Cheese Pierogies
Serves 6
Filling
- 3 pounds (about 5 medium) potatoes, peeled
- 1 pound farmer’s cheese
- ½ cup margarine
- 1 egg, beaten
Dough
- ¼ cup margarine
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
Cut the potatoes in large chunks and cook in boiling water until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well and cool slightly. Mash the potatoes with cheese, margarine, and egg. Refrigerate the filling until ready to use.
For the dough, melt the margarine in the milk in a saucepan over low heat. In a large bowl, stir the salt into 3 cups of flour. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the eggs and half of the hot milk mixture and beat with a fork. Add the remaining milk mixture and keep stirring to form a sticky dough. Add the remaining flour and knead it into the dough with your hands, forming a ball inside the bowl. Cut the dough into three equal pieces. Turn out one piece onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4 ½ inch biscuit cutter (or a medium-sized cup) cut out circles of dough. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. You should get about 30 circles of dough.The holiday pierogi-eating contest is a tradition in my husband’s family.
Every Christmas Eve his Bopchi - who is pushing 90, but still shovels her own driveway - makes hundreds of the pillowy dumplings. While I generally manage to put away a few pierogies (along with the usual kielbasa and galumpkis, or stuffed cabbage rolls) my husband’s petite cousin, Liz, routinely beats out her cousins, packing away as many as 20 pierogies before moving on to dessert.
And while I don’t recommend eating 20 pierogies at once, I do think that the feat is much more manageable with Bopchi’s pierogies than with a heavier packaged variety. Bopchi’s pierogies are light, fluffy, incredibly tender pouches of creaminess. She says it’s all in the dough. Add too much flour, or knead the dough too much, and the pierogies are tough. But with too little flour, the dough is sticky and unmanageable.
My favorite pierogies are filled with potato and cheese and topped with sautéed onions. They are also delicious filled with sauerkraut (drain a can of sauerkraut and sauté in butter before filling) and topped with crumbled bacon. Bopchi even says they are lovely filled with blueberries and served with sour cream.
Potato and Cheese Pierogies
Serves 6
Filling
- 3 pounds (about 5 medium) potatoes, peeled
- 1 pound farmer’s cheese
- ½ cup margarine
- 1 egg, beaten
Dough
- ¼ cup margarine
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
Cut the potatoes in large chunks and cook in boiling water until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well and cool slightly. Mash the potatoes with cheese, margarine, and egg. Refrigerate the filling until ready to use.
For the dough, melt the margarine in the milk in a saucepan over low heat. In a large bowl, stir the salt into 3 cups of flour. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the eggs and half of the hot milk mixture and beat with a fork. Add the remaining milk mixture and keep stirring to form a sticky dough. Add the remaining flour and knead it into the dough with your hands, forming a ball inside the bowl. Cut the dough into three equal pieces. Turn out one piece onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4 ½ inch biscuit cutter (or a medium-sized cup) cut out circles of dough. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. You should get about 30 circles of dough.Place a heaping tablespoonful of filling into the center of each piece of dough and then fold and pinch the edges together very carefully. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add half the pierogies. After the water returns to a boil, cook for four minutes more. Remove pierogies with a slotted spoon and repeat with remaining pierogies.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sautee the onions until browned, about 10 minutes. Serve the pierogies topped with the onions.
Check out Dedham resident Katie Pelczar's blog at www.cozydelicious.com for more fun and nostalgic recipes.
