I admit, I can be a glutton for punishment with some cooking projects. Take perogie making. Sure the ingredients are fairly cheap (with the exception of the cheese but even cheddar isn’t that expensive) but the manpower required is intense. The making of the dough, the making of the filling, stuffing the perogies, crimping the edges… most people will just settle for the $3 bag of frozen perogies at the supermarket. The supermarket ones are just fine but I always enjoy a project… so perogie making it is!
I feel like whenever I refer to a recipe that I got from Canadian Living Magazine I always put some sort of disclaimer on it. Maybe I just have to embrace the fact that CL does some things very well. For example this perogie recipe which I’ve made many times over the years.
There’s nothing at all complicated about the recipe, it’s just time consuming. Ideal execution would involve an assembly line of willing family and/or friends. I had neither so it was just me, my perogies and my full series boxed set of Sex and the City (nothing says fun on a Sunday afternoon like perogie making and Mr. Big!). In the past I’ve added crumbled bacon to the filling which is great if you’re a bacon lover (I happen to think it should be it’s own food group).
I eat these perogies either boiled or friend. Boiled if I’m lazy or if they’re being packed in mu lunch. Friend if I’m feeling more ambitions. If I’m feeling particularly frisky I will sautée some bacon and onions together in butter and add the perogies and then serve with a side of sour cream.
It’s clearly health food.
These freeze really well. I lay them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment in a single layer and when they’re frozen drop them in a ziploc bag. If I had a team I’d double this recipe because 36 perogies is not enough.
Plump Perogies
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp (25 mL) butter
1 onion, sliced
Sour cream
Dough:
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1 egg
3/4 cup (175 mL) (approx) water
4 tsp (20 mL) vegetable oil
Filling:
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
1/3 cup (75 mL) finely chopped onion
1 cup (250 mL) cold mashed potatoes
3/4 cup (175 mL) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
Preparation:
Dough: In bowl, combine flour with salt. Beat together egg, water and oil; stir into flour mixture to make soft but not sticky dough that holds together in ball. If necessary, add 1 tbsp (15 mL) water at a time, being careful not to make dough sticky.
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface; knead about 10 times or just until smooth. Halve dough; cover with plastic wrap or damp cloth. Let rest for 20 minutes.
Filling: Meanwhile, in skillet, heat butter over medium heat; cook onion for 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Transfer to bowl and mix in potatoes, cheese, salt and pepper.
Working with one portion of dough at a time and keeping remaining dough covered, roll out on lightly floured surface to about 1/16-inch (1.5 mm) thickness. Using 3-inch (8 cm) round cutter, cut dough into rounds.
Place 1 tsp (5 mL) filling on each round. Lightly moisten edge of one half of dough with water; pinch edges together to seal and crimp attractively. Place on cloth; cover with damp cloth to prevent drying out. Repeat with remaining portion of dough.
In large pot of boiling salted water, cook perogies, in batches, for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until they float to top, stirring gently to prevent perogies from sticking together or to bottom of pot. With slotted spoon, remove to colander to drain.
In large heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat; cook onion for about 5 minutes or until golden. Add perogies and toss to coat and warm through. Serve with sour cream.
(From Canadian Living)
