As you may know, I attended a cooking class recently at the Cooking Spotlight. We learned how to make Pierogies from scratch. If you know me by now, I don’t typically ever follow a recipe. I like to make it my own by using different ingredients. I have to say, I did stick to the original recipe for the dough. There was no reason to mess with that. So credit on the dough and teaching me how to make homemade Pierogies has to go to Vicky Hanko at the Cooking Spotlight. She is an awesome teacher!
Instead, I put my own spin on the fillings to recreate these at home. The recipes we created during the cooking class were very good; they were delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I wanted to see what I could do with these with some additional ingredients. I made 3 different fillings that we learned in the class. I just added or tweaked the ingredients in them slightly to make them my own.
What I need to buy are a dumpling maker/press and a pastry attachment for my standing mixer. That would make this process of making Pierogies or even Ravioli or Dumplings much easier and faster. Warning, this is a process to make 3 different types of homemade pierogies or anything for that matter when making 3 different types. But, I was up for the challenge and my husband was there to help me with assembling the Pierogies. In the end, it is so worth it to make these from scratch. The dough is light and the fillings were incredibly flavorful. We topped them off with some caramelized onion, shallot and leeks as well as some sour cream. Only dangerous part is that they are much lighter so you can end up eating too many of them!
I have turned my husband and kids into Pierogi lovers!!! Before this, my husband told me he did not like Pierogies. I haven’t bought Pierogies from the store since I have met him because he wouldn’t eat them (that has been quite a few years). I jumped at the chance when a friend asked if I wanted to take this class. I wanted to show my husband how great they are. I promised him if he tried these homemade Pierogies that he would change his mind. Sure enough, he did. My kids were even raving about my homemade Pierogies the entire time we were eating them! Another win for this cooking mom!!! I think I will have to make another batch of them to freeze so we have them on hand.
Pierogies, 3-Ways
1 Ball of Dough makes approximately 30-36 Pierogies
Ingredients
Dough:
2 Cups, All-Purpose Flour
1 Egg
1/2 Cup, Water
1 Tablespoon, Sour Cream
1/2 Teaspoon, Salt
1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil
3 Types of Fillings:
1.Potato Filling:
2 large, Baking Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 Cup, Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup, Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
2 Tablespoons, Butter
S&P
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1 Leek, white parts only, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon, Butter
2.Cabbage & Ham Filling:
1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon, Butter
1 Onion, chopped
1/4, Purple Onion, chopped
1 Leek, white part only, finely chopped
1 Cup, Ham, diced
1/2 head, green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 Cup, Chicken Broth
S&P
3.Mushroom Mixture:
1 Package (6-8 oz.), Wild Mushrooms
6, Baby Bella (a.k.a., Cremini) Mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
1 Onion, chopped
1 Leek, white parts only, chopped
1 Shallot, chopped
1/4, Purple Onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon, Butter
S&P
1 Teaspoon, Fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1/2 Teaspoon, Fresh Thyme, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons, Wine *used Madeira Wine in this recipe
1/2 Cup, Cheese (Fontina, Gruyere, Parmesan or any kind you like), shredded
Toppings:
- Sour Cream
- Caramelized (3) Onions, (2) Shallots, (1) Leek w/Olive Oil, Butter and seasoned with S&P
Instructions
Pierogies ready to be cooked
Make the dough: In a mixing bowl, add the flour. Make a well in center of the flour. Beat the egg and add it to the center of the flour. Add the water, sour cream, oil and salt. Using your hands, coat your fingers in some flour then stir all the ingredients together until you have formed a dough. You can start to knead the dough on a floured surface if needed. Return dough to bowl and cover or place dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for approx. 40 minutes-1 hour. Make the fillings for your Pierogies while the dough is chilling. When you are ready, remove dough from fridge and let it come to room temperature before rolling it out.
Making Dough for Pierogies
Prepare topping for Pierogies: Place a large saute pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter. Once the butter is melted, add the onions, shallots and leeks and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with S&P and continue cooking. Caramelizing onions can take 30-40 minutes. You can cook this while prepping all your fillings. About 1/2 way through the cooking turn heat down to medium-low. Stir occasionally. If the mixture begins to stick to your pan you can add a splash of water or chicken broth to loosen it from pan.
Steaming Potatoes for Pierogies
Potato & Cheese filling for Pierogi
Make the Potato filling: In a double boiler, place water in the bottom pot and bring to a boil (use high heat on stove). Add the peeled/cubed potato to the top pot. Sprinkle with salt and cover with lid. Steam until potatoes are fork tender. While the potatoes are cooking, caramelize the onion, shallot and leek with oil/butter in a saute pan over medium high heat. Empty water from bottom pot on your double boiler. Transfer potatoes to bottom pot, return to stove on low heat. Add butter and season with S&P. Add the cheeses and mix well. Add the caramelized onion mixture and stir. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Cabbage, Onion & Ham for Pierogi
Sauteing Cabbage, Onion & Ham
Make the Ham/Cabbage filling: On the stove, place a large saute pan. Turn heat to medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter. Then add the white onion, purple onion and leek, saute for a few minutes. Turn heat to medium-high and add the cabbage and ham. Stirring the mixture, cook for about 5 minutes. Season with S&P. Add the chicken broth and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. You can place in a bowl, in the fridge if necessary. When filling the dough with the Ham/Cabbage mixture, I also added a small amount of the Potato mixture with it.
Cremini & Wild Mushrooms
Sauteing Mushrooms for Pierogies
Mushroom Mixture: On the stove, in a large saute pan add the oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leek, shallot and purple onion and saute until onions start to become translucent. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking. Once the mushrooms start to brown, season with S&P and herbs and cook another 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook for a few more minutes. Remove from heat let mixture cool. Mix together with the cheese then place mixture into a mini chopper or food processor. Pulse until mixture is nicely chopped (almost resembles a Pâté , you want it to be finely chopped). Set mixture aside.
Cutting Dough for Pierogies
Ready to fill for Pierogies
To assemble Pierogies: Cut the ball of dough into 4 pieces (quarters). Start by using 1 of the quarters and place the rest of the dough back under the plastic wrap until you are ready to use it (this will help to keep the dough from getting too tough). Roll dough out onto floured surface or use a pastry attachment on a standing mixer. Roll the dough out to about 1/8″ thickness. Using a pastry cutter, top of a glass or lid from a mason jar, cut out 3″ circles out of the dough. Save the scraps by placing them with the reserved dough (under plastic wrap) and you can roll out with the rest of your dough.
Filling Dough w/Potato Mixture
Fill each pastry circle with about 1 tablespoon of each mixture/filling (place mixture in the center of the circle. Brush the edges with water then fold over one side to meet up with the other side of dough. Crimp the edges with your fingers or use a dumpling maker to close/seal the pierogies. If using your hands, take a fork to gently press along the edges. Place onto a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper or a Silpat sheet and a little flour (so they do not stick). Repeat process until all Pierogies are filled.
Boil water on the stove. Add the desired amount of Pierogies to the water. Once they float to the top of the water just cook for about another 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the Pierogies from the water and transfer them to the saute pan that you are caramelizing the onion mixture in.
Serve with some sour cream or Crème fraîche ( or your favorite toppings. Be sure to scoop out those caramelized onions to add to your plate with your Pierogies!
Pierogies w/Caramelized Onions & Sour Cream
Mangia! Enjoy!
Freezing Pierogies: If you are not going to cook all the Pierogies in one sitting you can freeze them. Place the baking sheet (with your Pierogies on it) into the freezer (uncovered). Make sure the Pierogies are not touching each other or they will stick together. Once they start to freeze, remove tray and wrap them up. Label your freezer bag with a date and what’s inside the bag! Return to the freezer and when you are ready to cook them, remove them from freezer, completely thaw out then cook and serve.