Perogies

Perogies can be pretty hard to find in the U.S.- at least from my experience. We had these quite often growing up, and I was missing them. I found a great recipe and modified it to fit what I had in the kitchen. They're not hard to make, but definitely take a lot of time- but they are worth it in the end. Plus, you'll have extra to throw in the freezer for another great meal down the road. Enjoy!

Filling:

3 medium sized potatoes

1 egg, beaten

about 4 cups (or 1/2 lb.) shredded cheddar cheese

salt

pepper

dried thyme

Dough:

flour

1 egg, beaten

1 large spoonful of sour cream

1 "splash" of milk

Start by making the filling. Peel potatoes and boil until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. Mix cheese and beaten egg together. Once potatoes have cooled, add to the cheese mix. Add the salt, pepper and thyme to taste.

Mash mixture until it resembles mashed potatoes. Set aside.

To make the dough, beat an egg in a bowl. Add the sour cream and mix well.

Add enough flour that the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball in the center of the bowl.

Add the milk, and some more flour until the dough is manageable enough to pull out of the bowl with your fingers. Place dough on a very well floured surface and knead in just enough extra flour until dough no longer sticks to fingers.

Roll out dough, again making sure it stays well floured on bottom. Cut out circles using the top of a glass. Again, make sure the bottom is well floured, or you won't be pulling the circles off the countertop!

Fill half of the circle with dough, leaving an edge all the way around.

Brush half of the circle with water and fold over. Press edges, ensuring they stick together so that you don't lose your filling while boiling.

Continue making new batches of dough until you run out of filling.

Boil water in a large pot. Drop in 6-8 perogies at a time. Boil for 3 minutes. They will have risen to the top by now. Turn perogies over to the other side, and boil for another 3 minutes. Transfer to strainer and let excess water drip off. Then transfer to drying rack until cool and dry.

At this point, they can be put in freezer bags and kept in the freezer.

To prepare perogies, fry with onions. Top with sour cream and enjoy!

*Other filling possibilities:

ricotta cheese and spinach

butternut squash and parmesan

potato and bacon

switch out different spices: chives, rosemary...etc.

mozarella and potatoes

Modified from a recipe found at Annie's Eats.