Perogies

Pedaheh, perogy, pryogy, varenyky are all terms to describe this Eastern European dish.

In Ukraine, many homes have a large potato patch, as potatoes can be kept for a long time, getting many families through the winter.  So, if you have flour and potatoes, you make perogies.  There are many ways to make perogies and several different ways to fill them. No matter how they are made, eating them with fried onions and sour cream is simply delicious.

Dough recipe:
3 eggs
3 cups finely mashed potatoes, no lumps
½ cup Mazola oil or canola oil
¼ cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons of salt
4 cups of flour
 
In a large bowl, mix the water, eggs, and oil.  Add the potatoes, flour and salt.  Knead the dough until it is smooth.  It should be a bit sticky.  Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 hour.  Sprinkle some flour on your cutting/rolling surface.  Cut a piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll it thinly to about 3 mm. Sprinkle flour over the dough as you go so the rolling pin doesn’t stick to the dough.  Cut either circles (I use a small jar lid) or squares out of your dough.  Add about ½ teaspoon of filling to the middle of the cut out dough pieces and pinch the edges shut. Dip your finger in some water and run it along one edge of the dough before pinching the edges together to seal the edges together.

Boil perogies in a pot of water with 1 tsp of salt. Cook until perogies float to the top, roughly 4 to 5 minutes. Place them in a bowl and drizzle with melted butter. Toss so they don’t stick together. 

Perogies can be made ahead and frozen by lining a baking pan with parchment paper and laying perogies out on top of it. Freeze individually and then place in a freezer container.  
 
Fillings:
Potato and cheddar
10 large potatoes
1-1/4 cups cubes old cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon pepper 
 
Boil the potatoes until tender and drain. Add the cubed cheese and pepper. Cover the hot potatoes and let the cubed cheese melt, about 15 minutes. 
Mash the mixture well and add about ½ teaspoon of the mixture to your cut out dough pieces.  Pinch the edges to seal them. 

Sour cherry
2 ½ cups pitted sour cherries
6 tablespoons of white sugar
2 beaten eggs
 
Mix the pitted cherries with the sugar.  Add one cherry to each square or circle of dough you have cut out and wet the edges with the beaten egg so they seal well.  Once cooked, drizzle with butter and enjoy!  You can use blueberries, strawberries, haskaps, saskatoons, and cut up plums as well for this filling.  Use I teaspoon of filling when using the different fruits.

Additional fillings can be used – substitute potato and cheese with cottage cheese, sauerkraut, or by adding meat.

Serve perogies warm with sautéed onions, sausage and sour cream or alternatively, fry each side of a perogy for 2-3 minutes until browned. Try our cabbage rolls or lazy cabbage rolls recipes to compliment your perogies!