Sunday found me with some energy and the urge to create something good to eat. I had leftover mashed potatoes from dinner the night before, and not wanting to waste them on the pigs, decided to make potato & cheese pierogi. The shredded cheddar I had on hand was just plain old store bought stuff. Next time, I’ll use a good aged white cheddar instead.
You can get as creative as you want with this recipe, and use whatever you have sitting around. I sautéed mushrooms and onions in butter to top my pierogi. I also added a heap of my homemade sour kraut on the side. All personal preference.
And you can find the sour kraut recipe here…. But keep reading if you are looking for the pierogi recipe (below).
I ended up freezing some of the pierogi for a later time. Easy for quick night dinners. No need to thaw them. You just drop them in a pot of boiling water, and when they float to the top, drain them and then sauté them in the butter or olive oil, and add some salt and pepper. Adding onions or other things, like bacon or mushrooms, is all up to you.
The good news about this recipe is you can use any leftover dough to make pasta! Cut your pasta shapes, dry them out, store and use some other time. I made bowties because those are one of my favorites. And this recipe is easy. How nice is that?
Potato Cheese Pierogi
Ingredients
- 2 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup of water (maybe a little more if your dough is too dry)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large potatoes
- 8 ounces of sharp cheddar (or other cheese)
- salt / pepper
Mix flour, water, egg and salt together. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth in consistency. Or speed up the kneading and use your dough hook with the mixer. Cover the dough with the bowl and let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
Boil potatoes until soft. Drain and mash your potatoes. Fold in your cheese and taste, adding salt / pepper if necessary. Roll your dough out to about 1/8 inch thick, or pass it through your pasta machine. Cut out circles from the dough (I used a wine goblet). Fill each circle with about 1 tsp of potato filling and seal edges of dough tightly. When ready to serve, drop pierogi into boiling water until they float (about four min.?), remove, drain, and then sauté in butter or olive oil. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve with sour cream and sour kraut on the side if you desire. Enjoy! ~A
