Ruskie Pierogi Pierogi With Cheese Potato Filling Recipes

POLISH POTATO PIEROGI (PIEROGI RUSKIE)

Steps:

• 1. Make the filling first: Boil potatoes. Saute onions in olive oil or 1/2 stick butter. Mash potatoes with onions, farmers cheese, 1 stick salted butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Don't omit the pepper!
• 2. Store potato filling in fridge until well chilled / overnight.
• 3. Make the dough: Sift flour and salt together. In large bowl or on floured surface, make a hole in the middle of the flour.
• 4. Add egg and sour cream. Work this together with your hands. Pour water in as needed, to make dough moist.
• 5. Work this well until dough forms. Your arm may hurt and your fingers may get really sticky, but it is worth it.
• 6. Place dough in plastic bowl and cover with plastic top, or leave on floured work surface and cover with plastic bowl. Let it rest for about 30 minutes in room temp.
• 7. In the meantime, set up your workstation. You will need a large pot of salted water, slotted spoon, 1-2 sticks salted butter in saute pan, baking dish with a cover (for when you remove pierogi from pot), small cup of water, extra flour, sharp knife, rolling pin, and regular spoon for spooning filling, and floured plate for storing your raw pierogi.
• 8. After 30 minutes, take out your dough. Begin to boil your pot of salted water.
• 9. Slice off some of the dough. On a floured surface, roll dough out into as much of a square as possible. Make the dough about 1 millimeter, to 1 1/2 millimeter thick.
• 10. Slice dough sheet into squares (this doesn't have to be perfect size!). TIP: hold dough with two fingers while slicing, to prevent dough from clumping up...see pic!)
• 11. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling into the middle of square. TIP: Don't have any filling touching the sides. If you do, sides won't hold properly when pinching them together later on.
• 12. Dip fingertips into warm water. Slide along the sides of the square. Fold over, and pinch together. TIP: Do this gently and don't tear the dough, and don't let filling slip onto the edge. This will help pierogi not fall apart in cooking.
• 13. Place pierogi on floured plate. Repeat steps until you have about 8-10 pierogi ready for the pot. TIP - don't overcrowd pot with too many pierogi because they won't have room to move around and cook properly.
• 14. Once you have them ready, and pot of salted water is boiling, drop pierogi into the pot one by one, stirring the water after each drop. TIP: Stir the WATER, trying not to touch the pierogi. You want to babysit this and constantly stir, to prevent pierogi from sticking to pot, and to each other.
• 15. Wait for pierogi to float to top. Boil them for 10-12 minutes, stirring water often. TIP - after ten minutes, take one out to test it, meaning cut it open and taste if dough is done.
• 16. In the meantime, melt 1-2 sticks of salted butter. Pour some into baking dish you have ready on the side, to collect your done pierogi.
• 17. Once done, carefully fish out your pierogi with slotted spoon into buttered baking dish.
• 18. Pour butter all over pierogi after each set you make. Slosh them around in the dish so they don't stick together. Keep dish covered whenever you can so they don't dry out.
• 19. TIP: If your pierogi break in the water, and your water starts to get dirty from the bits of filling floating around in it, start over with a new pot of boiling salter water.
• 20. TIP: When not using your dough, keep covered with plastic to keep it from drying out.
• 21. Enjoy!

PIEROGI RUSKIE (POTATO AND CHEESE PIEROGI)

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: Add the flour and salt to a large bowl; whisk to combine. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup water and the butter over medium-high until butter is melted, about 3 minutes. Pour the buttery liquid into the flour gradually, stirring it in as you add it. (The dough will be quite crumbly and flaky at this point, like a biscuit dough.) Stir in the egg until combined then move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 5 to 7 minutes. Cover the dough with a dampened towel or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Prepare the filling: Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Add them to a large pot, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt and cover with cold water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high and continue to cook at a simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
• While the potatoes cook, prepare the onions: In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high. Add the onions, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown and softened, about 12 minutes. Set aside about 1 cup of onions for garnish and add the rest to a medium bowl.
• Transfer the cooked potatoes to a colander to drain, then transfer to the medium bowl with the onions. Add the cheese, stir to combine, season generously with salt and pepper, then let cool.
• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high.
• Prepare the wrappers: Cut the dough into two even pieces. (You'll want to leave one piece under the towel to stay moist while you work with the other piece.) You'll also want a small bowl of flour, a small bowl of water and a towel handy for keeping your hands clean. Dust some flour onto a baking sheet (for holding the pierogi) and your work surface, then roll out one portion of dough until 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter or inverted glass, punch 12 to 15 disks of dough. (Save and refrigerate the scraps to boil as a rustic pasta, in soup or another use.)
• Assemble the pierogi: Working with one disk at time, spoon a scant tablespoon of filling onto the middle of it. Fold the dough in half to enclose the filling, bringing the edges together to form a crescent shape. Pinch the two sides together at the top, then work your way down on both sides, pinching the dough over the filling and pushing in the filling as needed, making sure the potato mixture does not break the seal. If needed, you can dip your fingertip into water and moisten the dough in spots as needed to help the two sides adhere together.
• To form a rustic pattern on the curved seal, pinch the rounded rim underneath using your pointer finger and middle finger and press an indentation on top with your thumb, working your way along the rounded rim. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. (If you've gotten some filling on your fingers, dip your fingertips into the bowl of water then dry them off on the towel.)
• Repeat with remaining disks, then repeat the entire process with the remaining portion of dough. You'll want to work fairly quickly, as the pierogi can be harder to seal if they start to dry out. (If cooking the pierogi at a later point, transfer them on the baking sheet to the freezer until frozen solid, then transfer the pierogi to a resealable bag and freeze.)
• To cook the pierogi, add a single layer of pierogi to the pot of boiling water. Let them cook until they rise to the surface, about 2 minutes, then cook another 2 to 3 minutes until puffy. (With frozen dumplings, you will need to increase the cooking time by a couple of minutes.) Use a slotted spoon to transfer cooked dumplings to a colander to drain, then boil remaining dumplings.
• If you want to pan-fry your pierogi, working in batches, melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high until crackling. Add a few boiled pierogi in a single layer to avoid overcrowding, and cook until crisp and golden, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining pierogi, adding butter as needed.
• Serve hot. Top with any browned butter from the pan, warmed reserved onions, sour cream and herbs.

RUSKIE PIEROGI (PIEROGI WITH CHEESE & POTATO FILLING)

Steps:

• Combine all of the ingredients listed under filling and refrigerate until ready to assemble pierogi.
• Combine flour, salt and butter in food processor.
• In a separate bowl, blend together egg, egg yolk, milk and sour cream.
• Add egg mixture to flour mixture and process until dough cleans sides of bowl and sticks together (the dough will be slightly sticky).
• Remove from processor, shape into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill for 3 hours or overnight.
• Cut dough into thirds; roll each section out on floured surface into 12" round.
• Cut each round into 8 (3") circles (using a glass works well).
• Place about 2 tsp filling on each dough circle.
• Moisten outer edges with water and fold dough over to close.
• Seal edges by pressing gently with the back of a fork or pinching together with your fingers.
• In large pot, bring salted water to boil.
• Cook 12 pierogi at a time, reducing heat to a gentle boil; boil until pierogi float to the surface (about 5 minutes).
• Remove with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towel and transfer to serving dish.
• Repeat with remaining pierogi.
• At this point you can serve them warm, freeze them for later use or fry them in butter over medium heat, lightly browning both sides before serving.