Pierogi

I grew up in the Metro Detroit area and I have family in Hamtramck (pronounced HAM-TRAM-ICK), once one of the largest populations of Polish people in Michigan. So my family grew up eating pierogi. What I love about these recipes is that the dough comes together very easily and is not a frustrating mess. However, pierogi are time consuming due to the folding. Get a small assembly line ready and go to town. The dough makes enough filling for 32 decent-sized pierogi. Even a chubby hubby like me was satisfied at eating seven. You don't need to make every filling. Make one first and then try the others. I've even seen sweet fillings like sweet cheese and blueberry. When making a new pierogi filling, the key is to make sure the filling is a bit dry and not TOO wet. These were the best fillings and dough I have found. I cannot take any credit for this recipe. The fillings come from different locations. I included their ingredients so you can see them in one place, but you will have to go to their blog to get the directions. It didn't feel right to copy and paste their work into mine. The exception being Cook's Country which is behind a firewall so linking would not work. I am giving them credit here. 

Pierogis
Potato and Cheese Filling (Cook's Country)

1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
Salt and pepper
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (1 cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Sauerkraut and Mushroom (Spruce Eats)
1 quart sauerkraut (chopped, rinsed, and drained)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion (finely chopped)
8 ounces button mushrooms (finely chopped)
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste, remembering that the kraut is salty)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Optional: 1 egg (hard-cooked, finely chopped)
2 tablespoons sour cream

Meat and Onion Filling (Cold Weather Comfort)
1 Pound Ground Beef
1 Onion Chopped
1 Cup Beef Broth
Salt
Pepper

Dough (Cooks Country)
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

Topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sour cream

Potato and Cheese Filling Directions: 

Place your sliced potatoes into a large pot or saucepan along with 1 tablespoon of salt (Yes, that much!) and cover with water by an inch or so. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook at a vigorous simmer, about 15 minutes. Drain your potatoes. While still hot, mix the potatoes, cheddar, butter, and salt/pepper to taste. I like to do this in the stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Let the mixture cool slightly before  transferring to a bowl, covering, and chilling in the fridge for at least an hour or up to 24 hours! 

Saukerkraut and Mushroom Filling:https://www.thespruceeats.com/polish-sauerkraut-mushroom-pierogi-recipe-1137065

Meat and Onion Filling:https://www.coldweathercomfort.com/polish-meat-pierogi/

Dough:

Whisk in the flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt together in a clean bowl of a hand mixer. Add sour cream and egg and yolk. Fit the mixer with a dough hook and knead on medium high speed for 8 minutes. It really does take 8 minutes. When you start mixing this up, it will look dry and seem that it will not come together. It will! Trust in the process! Once it is together, you can put it in a bowl, cover, and put in the fridge until you are ready for it. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured counter into an 18 inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter or glass, cut as many circles as you can. Repeating the rolling and cutting until you have all the dough cut out. 

Take a tablespoon of the filling of your choice (and I actually measure this out!) and put it on the center of one of your dough rounds you cut. Fold them to a half moon shape making sure the filling does not get sealed between the dough. This will cause the pierogi to burst when boiling. The best way I found to seal the pierogi is to bring the the opposite sides of the pierogi together. Now the dough is sealed in the middle and you have an opening on either side. Then seal the pierogi going from the center out. If you start with the edge, I find that you'll push filling out the other side. Once firmly sealed, use a fork to make a decorative crimp and seal it further. At this point, you can refrigerate them for up to three hours until you are ready to boil them, or you can freeze them! If you are freezing them, put them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, freeze them on the cookie sheet, and once solid, transfer them to a plastic bag or container of your choice. When cooking them, just add five minutes or so to the cooking time. 

Topping:
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and salt and cook until the onions start to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cooking the Pierogi:

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a tablespoon of salt and half the pierogi. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and add to the pan with the onions. Repeat with the other half of the pierogi and add to the pan with the onions as well. Add a few tablespoons of the cooking water to the pierogi in the skillet with the onions. Cook gently over medium-low heat until the onion mixture is warmed through and is sticking to the pierogi. Serve with sour cream.