Pierogies!! -- Vegan MOFO #19

Pierogies!!  What more can I say?  They're creamy, chewy and tasty as all get-out.  You can't eat just one.  They're versatile...add any ingredients you want into the filling.  These are just what my Polish granny would make (if I had a Polish granny, which I do not).

You should know that this was my first time ever making pierogies, although I'm a life-long fan of them.  The thing is, I only ever ate the frozen ones and the ones at a little pub outside of Pittsburgh.  The frozen and pub varieties were tasty, but I really wanted a little more flavor out of them.  So, for this batch, I added some finely chopped caramelized onions to the mashed potatoes.  My mashed potatoes typically consist of lots of EB and salt and, occasionally, fresh garlic. OH, and another great thing to add to the mashed potatoes for these pierogi is some Daiya cheddar. Maybe 1/3 cup. Super yummy.

I've gotta say: these pierogies turned out fabulously.  I made a big batch, but they're all gone -- there was some serious pigging out going on.  Depending on the size you make the pierogies, the dough will make enough for at least 20 (I used a 3.5 inch diameter glass to cut my dough into circles) and had dough left.  You can make your mashed potatoes any way that you want, so I'm not going to write up a recipe for that.  You will need a couple of cups of mashed potatoes.  I will share my friend's (@PaulEats from twitter) recipe for the pierogie dough.  I don't think he'd care if I shared with you all.  After filling the pierogies, you will need to boil them for about 3 minutes.  Then you can either serve them as-is, or take a little cooking spray and fry them up a bit.  I have to have them fried.  I just love how it makes some of the dough crispy, yet still chewy and delicious. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2cup + 2tbsp warm water 
• 2c flour
• 1/4c oil, 
• 1tsp salt 
• 2 cups mashed potatoes, give or take

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until well combined with no dry spots.  I used my hands to combine the ingredients into well-mixed ball.
2. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
3. I separated the dough in half and rolled out the first half to be about 1/8th of an inch thick.  
4. I took my glass and cut out circles.  Peel away the excess and set aside to be reused.
5. Take about 1 TB of mashed potato and place in the center of the dough rounds.  Fold the dough and press the edges together, and seal.  I dipped my finger in water and rubbed around the bottom half-circle of dough before sealing the pierogies.  It seemed to make the sides stick together better.  You can press the edges firmly with your fingers to seal or use the tines of a fork and press firmly.  You want them to be sealed really well so potato doesn't come out during boiling. 
6. Repeat steps 3-5 until you use up your dough.  
7. Put a large pot of salty water on to boil.  When it is rolling steadily, carefully put about 5 pierogies into the pot.  I used a large slotted spoon to lower them in with no splashing.  You'll boil them for about 3 minutes, or until they rise to the top.  Repeat until all of your pierogies are cooked.
8. You can set some aside to freeze and fry up later, but we were very hungry, so I started frying them up in a little cooking spray.  I like to fry until just lightly browned and crispy on the top and bottom.  I flip mine over several times throughout cooking to make sure they're cooked evenly.  I fry in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  If these are freshly boiled, they take about 4-ish minutes to cook to perfection.
9. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, or in my case, garlic salt and some pepper.  I like them with a little sour cream, but some people use anything from sauerkraut to applesauce.  Whatever floats your pierogie boat is cool by me.

If you decide to freeze some, there is a little something extra you need to do. Once you boil the pierogi, place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet, not touching one another. Let them dry so there are no wet spots left. Then, place the sheet in your freezer until the pierogie are frozen solid - at least 2 hours. Then put them in freezer bags. Doing it this way keeps the pierogie from sticking together when they are in the freezer bags because they can be a nightmare to get apart otherwise.