Pierogi, A Great Party Food!
So I was reading Martha Stewart this morning and she did a delicious post about Pierogi and that got me rummaging for my own recipe. Mine is a little more simple than Martha’s recipe as usual but it still retains the same goodness and the same familiarity. Not to my dieting crowd these aren’t exactly diet food so eat in moderation! Pierogi are great for parties because with a little bit of additional effort you can create these quickly and easily and the nice thing is that you can put in a variety of fillings. In the recipe below I have a potato filling but you can use real fruit jam and sugar and a variety of other fillings that I will try to discuss later. Pierogi also have an interesting history. These little pastry items are known to be of polish descent but they are common in almost every culture in some for or another. They are very popular in Eastern Europe and came to America like most foods, with immigrants from Eastern Europe. We of course Americanized it and have it here for you to enjoy today!
Basic Pierogi
For the dough
1 large egg, lightly whisked
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup water
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface and dusting
Yellow cornmeal, for dusting
Directions:
Whisk together egg, sour cream, milk and water. Stir in flour, 1 cup at a time. (This is best done in a mixer)
Turn out dough onto a floured surface. Make dough slightly stiff with flour as needed. Let rest for 1 hour.
Divide dough into 4 equal pieces.Dust baking sheet generously with cornmeal to prevent sticking.
Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8-inch-thick round (keep other pieces covered).
Cut out circles very close together, using a 3-inch cutter or glass
Once filled with filling below squeeze edges together by hand to create the crescent.
Potato Filling
5 pounds (about 12 medium) peeled and quartered Yukon gold potatoes
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
8 ounces room-temperature cream cheese
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Make potato filling: Place potatoes in a large pot, and cover with cold water. Season with salt. Bring to a boil; cook until fork-tender, 8 to 9 minutes.
Drain and mash the potatoes or pass then through a ricer. Stir in cream cheese and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Then fill the above dough with sufficient amount of potato to create the iconic filled cresent. Usually 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling.
