Oooh... such a
wonderful creation. I look forward to enjoying these
tasty little pockets of
goodness every
Christmas. It was one of the many traditional
Polish foods my family would prepare.
Noonie, my grandmother, would make
hundreds of pierogi every year before the
holidays. It would be a
team effort between her and my grandfather (known to us grandkids as
Bampy). She would
expertly assemble the pierogi, and it was Bampy's job to
boil them. They've passed on, but we still carry on the
tradition... but they don't seem to taste
quite as good as Noonie's did.
Previous generations passed down the pierogi recipe from memory. Thankfully, my sister had the foresight to copy down the family recipe:
The only way to describe this dish is as the core of our family's holiday celebrations. I know I will always keep the fond memories of my childhood when I "helped" with the production of these complex dumplings. Even though, I probably spent more time eating the potato filling than I did actually helping.
Potato Filling
10 lrg
potatoes
1 lb farmer's
cheese (we also make ones with
Colby cheese for a bit different
flavor)
1
onion, chopped
1/4 lb
butter
salt and pepper
Saute the onion in the butter. Peel the potatoes and boil until
tender.
Mash the potatoes by hand. Stir the onion into the potatoes. Add enough salt and pepper to taste. Mash the cheese in by hand. Do not use an electric mixer because the
mixture will turn out
creamy. Cool the mixture before
stuffing the pierogies.
Cabbage Filling
1 lrg head of
cabbage
1
onion, chopped
1/4 lb of
butter
salt and pepper
Remove the
core from the cabbage. Place the cabbage in water until just covered. Cook the cabbage until almost
tender. Drain the cabbage and
squeeze with your hands until all of the water is removed from the cabbage. Put the cabbage though a
food grinder. In a large pan saute the onion in the butter until
brown. Add the cabbage to the onion and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes. Cool the
mixture before stuffing the pierogies.
Dough
4 cups
flour
4
eggs
1 pt
sour cream
1 tsp
salt
Place the flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Drop the eggs in the center of the well and cut the eggs into the flour with a fork. Add the sour cream and salt to the mixture. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until firm. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough in half and roll out one portion very thin, about a eighth of an inch thick. Cut the dough into 3 inch circles. Stretch the circle of dough gently and place a small amount of potato or cabbage filling the center of the dough. Fold the dough circle in half and pinch the ends closed. Repeat the process with the remaining pieces of dough.
If you have any dough remaining they can be cut into kluski noodles.
Drop about a dozen completed pierogi into a large pan of salted boiling water, stirring the occasionally, until they rise to the top, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain.
Just before serving, saute the pierogies and kluski in butter and oil until browned on both sides.