Hello everyone, Jess here.
Tonight, I tried my hand at making pierogi for the first time using my aunt’s recipe. My maternal grandmother (aka Nan) is of Russian descent and my paternal grandmother is of Polish descent, hence I was hoping that I might have inherited an innate pierogi-making ability along the way. No such luck. These puppies were trickier than I thought, and messy, but awfully tasty! 
A quick trip through the pan with a little Amish Roll Butter and they’re even better!
My Aunt Noreen (whom drafted tonight’s recipe for my grandmother’s cookbook) said that the first time you make the dough, it’s tough to do. Once you find the right consistency, it’s like riding a bike. Aunt Noreen inherited this recipe from her family, and the amounts are “by feel”. Let’s take a look at what we wrote down those many years ago for Nan’s cookbook.
Pierogi (makes about 1 1/2-2 dozen depending on your dough and rolling ability)
- 1/2 cup sour cream (you can also use evaporated milk in a pinch but the sour cream definitely makes the dough lighter)
- 1/2 cup water
- all purpose flour (until pliable dough forms)
Sauerkraut filling
- 1 1/2 cups sauerkraut
- small piece of salt pork (skip if doing the vegetarian version)
- medium onion, chopped
- dash of cider vinegar
- Rinse and drain sauerkraut, fry salt pork and onion. Add sauerkraut to onion and salt pork, fry lightly.
Tonight I went with a braised purple cabbage filling and a potato and cheese filling. The boys loved the potato cheese ones (which worked out well as I was enamored by the cabbage ones).
Make a well in the middle of your all purpose flour, and add the sour cream and water before combining and kneading for a few. “You’ll be able to tell” was my aunts advice on how much flour to use. I basically kneaded the dough together, adding flour until things weren’t all sticky. (I read that an egg is used in most pierogi doughs, my aunt says that you can use one, but that she does not.
After some stirring, this happens.
Letting the dough rest for a little bit made it easier to work with.
Aunt Noreen usually uses one of those metal coffee cans to cut the dough. You can use a 3 inch cutter, or cut around a large yogurt container (reduce, reuse, recycle, right?)
Once your filling is in, use the fork to seal the edges (the boys had fun helping me with these, and our fringe was a bit large.)
Here’s a little of the braised cabbage and garlic filling in action.
Ready to go into the pot!
They go for 7-8 minutes, but no less than 7.
If all is going well, they’ll start to float in the boiling water!
This is post-boil. These were the ones my younger son loved. He ate right up to the cabbage filling, which is now why I understand his desire to make these with as little filling as possible.
This is post-frying pan, with a light sauté in a bit of butter. Yummy! My older son tried a “no thank you” bite of one of these and when he realized it was tasty he proceeded to eat the whole thing and go back for more. (Thank goodness for those “no-thank-you” bites!
As pierogi are now a hit around these parts, I’ll be trying them again for sure. Next time I’ll try the dough with egg and report back. In the meantime, sweet and savory dreams!