Pierogies

TO MAKE THE DOUGH: Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. In a separate large bowl, combine the melted butter, sour cream, and corn oil. Beat the eggs and egg yolk together, and add them to the sour cream mixture. Whisk everything together well, so it forms a smooth, thick liquid.

Add the wet mixture to the flour in the mixer bowl, and mix on low speed (#1 on a KitchenAid) for about a minute and a half, until you’ve got a thick dough.

 

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface, and knead the dough by hand, forming it into a ball. Then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a thick disk about the size of a Frisbee, or push it into this shape with your hands. (This will make the dough easier to work with when it’s cold.) Wrap the dough well in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for at least 6 hours.

 

 

TO MAKE THE CHEESE FILLING: In the bowl of a tabletop mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cheese, egg, nutmeg, sugar, and vanilla. Mix on medium-low speed (#2 on a KitchenAid) for about 10 to 15 seconds to bring everything together. Turn the filling out into a bowl, cover it, and chill it down in the fridge for at least an hour. (You can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days at this point.)

TO MAKE THE PIEROGIES: Preheat the oven to 175°F.

Take the dough out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature on the countertop until it’s soft enough to work with (about 20 minutes).

Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl.

 

Flour a work surface well. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough in batches, turning it and rolling in every direction, including diagonally, until it’s basically the same thickness as one of the cookies in an Oreo. Use a round pastry cutter (or the bottom of a can) to cut out as many rounds as possible from each piece of dough.

 

Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of each round of dough with the egg (so it will stick together when you close it up). Take the filling out of the fridge just before you’re ready to use it.

Put 1 tablespoon of the filling on the middle of each round. Then fold the round in half around the filling, so you’ve got a half-moon with the filling inside. Use your fingers to pinch the open sides closed all the way around, making little pinches all the way along the edges (so you have those little indentations you always see on pierogies).

Put a large pot of well-salted water on to boil. While the water is heating, put the pierogies on a tray in the fridge so they cool down a little and the dough sets.

 

When the water comes to a boil, put the first batch of pierogies in the pot about 15 to 20 at a time. (They won’t cook well if you put too many in at once.) The pierogies will take about 7 minutes to cook, depending on your stove and the thickness of your dough. They’re definitely not done until they float up to the top, and then they probably need another minute or two. The best way to know if they’re ready? Take one out, cut it open, and taste it. If you want boiled pierogies, you’re done serve ’em up right away.

 

TO FRY THE PIEROGIES: If you’re making fried pierogies, melt a pat of butter in a nonstick saucepan (about 1 tablespoon or a little more for every batch of 8 pierogies). Put a batch of pierogies in the pan, but don’t crowd them or they won’t cook right.

Fry the pierogies, turning them every couple of minutes, until they crisp up (about 4 minutes total). The butter will brown a little bit as the milk solids start to caramelize, and that will give the pierogies a nice nutty flavor.

Sprinkle some poppy seeds over the tops of the pierogies, and then pull them out of the pan, put them on a plate or tray, and hold them in the oven while you fry up the remaining batches. Serve these hot as soon as they’re all done, with applesauce on the side.

 

CHEF’S TIP: Pierogies freeze really well, so you can boil these ahead of time, like the Pierogi Church ladies do, and fry them up when you’re ready.

 

Recipe courtesy of American Flavor by Andrew Carmellini/Ecco, 2011.