Nana’s PierogiRecipe by Chef Heidi Fink

Directions

1. Make the dough and the fillings a day or two before filling and sealing the peirogi. This makes peirogi-making day easy and fun rather than stressful. Including your friends or family memebers on the day for a fun kitchen project.
2. DOUGH: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and sour cream until smooth.
3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, along with the room temperature butter. Mix well with a spoon until a rough dough comes together. It will be very sticky.
4. Turn the dough (with any unmixed dry flour) onto a countertop and knead *without adding additional flour* until the dough is smooth, silky, and not sticky. This will take about five minutes.
5. Divide the dough into 4 portions. Wrap each portion well in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 48 hours.
6. POTATO FILLING: Place prepared potatoes in a small pot. Cover with cold water and add salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover, and simmer gently until potatoes are fork-tender.
7. Drain completely and return potatoes to the pot on very low heat. Add butter and mash completely. Remove from heat, scrape into a bowl and add grated cheese. Mix well until cheese is melted and completely combined with potatoes. Season with salt, if needed.
8. Let cool completely before filling pierogi.
9. MUSHROOM FILLING: To clean mushrooms, I put them in a large bowl and run cold water over them, swish them around, and then use my hands to scoop  the mushrooms out into a colander, letting the dirt settle into the bottom of the washing bowl.
10. After cleaning, mince the mushrooms until they are quite small –I use a food processor for this step.
11. Next, place a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted, add all of the minced mushrooms, along with the salt and pepper. Sauté for several minutes, until the mushrooms are giving off liquid. Turn the heat down to medium-low and continue sautéing, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has evaporated, the mushrooms are getting some dark colour on them, and the aroma of browned mushrooms is filling the room.
12. Remove from heat and scrape mushrooms into a bowl. Let cool completely.
13. Meanwhile, drain and chop the sauerkraut. When the mushrooms are cool, mix the sauerkraut into the bowl. Taste to adjust the seasoning.
14. TO FILL AND COOK PIEROGI: Use a rolling pin to roll each portion of dough on a lightly floured counter, turning and flipping the dough as necessary, adding a little more flour as necessary, until the dough is very thin, about 1 millimeter thick. Don’t worry if the dough appears too thin; it’s very stretchy and shrinks back on itself somewhat. It’s better if the dough starts off looking too thin.
15. Use a 3-inch (7 ½ cm) round biscuit cutter to cut rounds of dough, cutting as close together as possible so you waste as little of the dough as possible. Remove the excess dough from around the cut circles.
16. Have a small bowl of water on the counter beside the dough circles. Have a parchment-lined tray ready as well. Place approximately 2 teaspoons (10 ml) of filling in the middle of each circle of dough. Dip your finger in the bowl of water and run your wet finger along half the edge of 2 or 3 circles of the dough (just work with a few at a time, otherwise they get too sticky).
17. Pick each round up so that they it sits like a tiny taco in your non-dominant hand. use your other hand to pull both sides up evenly and pinch together tightly. Pinch firmly the whole way around, making sure no filling is in the way.
18. Place the filled dough back on the counter and repeat with remaining dough rounds. Once they are all filled, seal the edges again with the tines of a fork.
19. At this point the pierogi can be arranged on parchment-lined trays and put in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them to zipper lock freezer bags and tore for up to 4 months. Cook directly from forzen.
20. Pierogi can also be cooked from fresh, but they must be cooked within a couple of hours from filling or the dough might become too soggy to hold. For large batches, I always freeze right away and then cook from forzen.
21. Cook peiorgi in a large stockpot of boiling salted water. Only cook about 15 pierogi at a time. When the pierogi float, they’re done. The time will vary depending on if they’re fresh or frozen, but they usually take 5 to 7 minutes.
22. Serve tossed with melted butter with sour cream on the side. For a full meal, serve wth grilled or roasted sausages and a beet or cabbage salad.
23. Leftover cooked pierogi last up to 5 days in the fridge. The best way to reheat them is to fry them in a saute pan until crispy on both sides.