Favourite family recipe: Little Baba’s perogies

Little Baba’s Perogies

Ingredients

Filling:

• 8 russet potatoes
• 1 block (250g) plain cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated aged cheddar
• 4 or 5 slices chopped bacon
• 1 white or sweet onion, thinly chopped
• 1 cup chopped sauerkraut
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
• salt & pepper to taste

Dough:

• 2/3 cup warm potato water
• 3 tbsp melted butter
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups flour (+ 1/2 cup set aside for rolling and pinching)

Toppings:

• Chopped and fried bacon
• Caramelized onions
• Sour cream
• Fresh chives
• Optional Fresh dill

Instructions

Filling:

1. Cut potatoes and bring to a boil on high heat and cook until tender, approximately 15 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are boiling, fry bacon until halfway cooked and then add butter, onion and sauerkraut until tender.

3. Drain cooked potatoes but save 1 cup of potato water for the dough. Mash potatoes, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese until there are no lumps. Do not over-mash!

4. With a spatula, fold in sautéed buttery bacon, onion and sauerkraut mixture, adding fresh dill and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until cool.

Dough:

1. With a whisk, mix wet ingredients in a glass measuring cup.

2. Pour in one cup of the wet ingredients into the flour and stir gently with a fork – add extra wet ingredients and/or flour as needed to make a very soft, moist dough.

3. Separate into 2 dough balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes.

4. Start with one ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and floured rolling pin, rolling the ball into a large circle, flipping the dough over until it’s a workable, soft consistency. Do not dry out the dough with too much flour or overwork it. The dough needs elasticity for stretching and sealing. The dough should be rolled out till it’s approximately 1/4” thick.

5. Cut out circles with a floured cookie cutter or small glass. Put any leftover dough back in the plastic wrap to use after your next batch is done.

Perogy assembly

Using a teaspoon, roll the filling mixture into approximately 2 tsp-sized balls on the countertop. Place the ball of filling in the middle of a thinly rolled out dough circle. You will actually press the ball of filling with your fingers to fit it across and into the middle of your circle leaving 1/4” space around the diameter of the circle for sealing. With lightly floured fingers pinch the middle of the outer edge first and with floured fingers pinch the seams together into half-moons, making sure no filling or moisture is in the seam to avoid perogies from opening. Pinch the perogy seam twice with floured fingers, ensuring the seams are closed. Set onto a clean, lightly floured dish towel. Repeat until no more filling or dough remains. Cover with another towel until ready to boil.

Perogy cooking instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Boil 10 perogies at a time until they rise to the top. (About 3 minutes)

2. Remove perogies with a slotted spoon and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Baste with butter and repeat for the next perogy batch. Set boiled perogies aside and let cool for 15 minutes.

3. Heat a frying pan with a little oil and ample butter and fry the perogies until golden brown. Top with chopped bacon and caramelized onions, and of course, a generous dollop of sour cream. Garnish with fresh chives and dill.

Perogy pointers and tips

Freezing:

Freeze boiled perogies flat in a Ziploc bag. Let them sit on the counter till thawed before you separate them to avoid ripping them apart before frying. The airfryer method works great as well.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen perogies and takes less than 2 hours from start to finish.