Mom Sko's Pierogies

Yes, these are incredibly amazing and WELL worth the time and effort that go into making them. Every Easter all the ladies in Stephen's family get together and make these pierogies from scratch. Unfortunately, I always seem to miss out on this tradition because of the whole distance thing (booooo). I promised Hubs I'd learn how to make them, and his Mama is an excellent teacher! This is the exact recipe that my Mother-in-Law e-mailed me...literally word for word! I found it so detailed and helpful! She is an awesome cook and doesn't give herself nearly enough credit!

Give these a try! All you need is white potatoes, velveeta cheese, flour, eggs and water! Easy enough! I served them with some onions that I sautéed in butter. Hellooooo new tradition! Maybe some day Ella and I will be able to join the rest of the girls in NY! Until then, I hope I did these justice! Stephen said they were spot on (total win)! It was fun getting in touch with my Polish roots! I'm sure my Grandfather was smiling down more than usual!

Pierogies

*Just so you have an idea of amounts:
A 5 lb. bag of potatoes will fill about 120 pierogies.
One recipe of dough pockets will make about 15 pierogies.

Filling:
Peel & boil 1 ½ lbs. white, all-purpose potatoes until fork tender. (This will make a total of about 30 pierogies.)
Drain water & mash potatoes immediately.
Cut in ½ lb. or more of Velveeta cheese and mash and immediately mix with the hot potatoes until the cheese melts.
Cool & refrigerate until ready to fill pockets.

Dough Pockets *This recipe will make about 15 pockets
In a medium size bowl, pour in 1 level cup of all-purpose flour.
Add 1 large egg & using a fork, mix together with the flour.
Add about 5 Tablespoons lukewarm water & mix & knead with your hands to make a soft dough.
Add more water (a very little bit at a time) if dough is still too dry and not holding together.
Add a little more flour if your dough is too wet & sticky.
Work the dough in the bowl until it is a soft, workable dough. (Kind of like pizza dough.)

*Clean your working surface well before rolling out the dough.

Sprinkle some flour on the clean working surface and on the rolling pin.
Roll out the dough, pick it up & turn it over adding a little more flour to the working surface if needed so the dough does not stick to the working surface.
Keep rolling and turning the dough until it is the size of a pizza and not sticking to the working surface. It will be “elastic”y.
Dip a drinking glass rim in flour. (Glass with a 3 ½ in. diameter works well.)
Use the glass as a cookie cutter & twist the glass & cut out as many circles as you can.
Discard the leftover dough.
Make a new batch of dough if needed to make 15 more pockets.

Fill the middle of each circle of dough with about ½ Tablespoon of potato mixture.
Pick up the circle.
Dip your finger in a bowl of water & run your finger around the entire edge of the circle.
Fold the circle in half and pinch the edges together. (There shouldn’t be any potato filling oozing out the edges.) Do not puncture the dough when working with it.

Continue pinching the edges with some flour on your fingers.
Use the tines of a fork to seal the edge all around but take care not to puncture the dough that is surrounding the filling.

Place pierogies on a plate or cookie sheet & place in the freezer for a short while to harden them.
Pop them off the cookie sheet or plate & store in a ziplock bag.
Place in freezer right away until ready to cook.

Cooking:
Boil a pot of water.
Drop in about 10 pierogies and stir gently so they don’t break.
Bring to a gentle boil again.
When pierogies rise to the surface in a few minutes, they are done.
Lift them out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon to drain them.
Place in a frying pan with melted butter & just keep cooking & turning them a little bit on a medium fire so the outside gets slightly crispy.
Bring the water to a boil again & repeat the process with 10 additional pierogies until you have cooked the amount you want.
You can keep them in a bowl in a warm oven until the entire amount is all cooked & ready to serve.

Enjoy!!!!