Delicious, Nutritious, Homemade (and Homegrown) PIerogies

After harvesting a mountain of potatoes last week, we set about making a Last Supper for the final summer crop of artists-in-residence and intern that included homemade pierogies stuffed with homegrown food like potatoes, leeks, and fresh herbs.

Pierogies are a traditional central and eastern European dish of dumplings stuffed with any combination of foods (often potato-based, but variations on the recipe can include just about anything you can dream up). Here's the basic recipe we followed, but you should feel adventurous enough to add your own twist anywhere you see fit.

Homemade Pierogie Recipe
 
Ingredients
Makes 12-15 pierogies

• 2 cups flour, plus extra for kneading and rolling dough
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. sour cream, plus extra to serve with the pierogie (we used vegan sour cream)
• 1/4 c. butter or butter replacer, softened and cut into small pieces
• butter and onions for sauteing (we used leeks instead of onions)
• ingredients for filling of your choice (we used potato, leeks, fresh herbs, and finely diced crimini mushrooms)

Preparation:

Pierogie Dough
To prepare the pierogie dough, mix together the flour and salt. Beat the egg, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Add the 1/2 cup sour cream and the softened butter pieces and work until the dough loses most of its stickiness (about 5-7 minutes). Cover the dough and allow it to sit at least 20 minutes (overnight is fine too—the dough can be kept in your fridge for up to two days).
Filling
Peel and boil 5 large potatoes until soft. While the potatoes boil, prepare the other ingredients. We finely chopped our leeks, mushrooms, fresh herbs, and garlic, and sauteed in olive oil until the garlic and leeks were translucent. Smash the potatoes and mix them with your otehr filling ingredients (you can also add cheese here if you so desire). Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the potato mixture cool and then form into 1" balls.

Prepping Your Pierogies
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a floured surface until the dough is only 1/8" thick. Use a drinking glass to cut circles of dough (2" for small pierogies and 3 1/2" for large pierogies). Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork or your fingers.

 
Boil the perogies a few at a time in a large pot of water. They are done when they float to the top (about 8-10 minutes). Rinse in cool water and let dry.

Saute chopped onions (or leeks) in butter or butter replacer in a large pan until soft. Add pierogies and pan fry until lightly crispy. Serve with a side of sour cream, jam, or any other toppings you like.