Pierogi
Dry cottage cheese and dill filling
16 oz. cottage cheese 1 egg 2 oz. cream cheese Fresh dill Green onions 2 Tbsp. butter If you can buy dry cottage cheese, great, but if not it’s easy to make at home. Take the cottage cheese and rinse it in a strainer or fine mesh sieve, then cover it in cheesecloth or put paper towels over top. I let the strainer sit overtop a bowl and put some sort of weight (I’ve used actual weights here, but any heavy container will do) on top. Let it sit in the fridge for up to four hours so that the moisture releases.
Sauté about half a bunch of green onions, sliced thin, in a pan until fairly soft. Add this, the cream cheese, egg, and a few ounces of fresh dill (I used exactly five) to the dry cottage cheese. Add salt and pepper. Incorporate well and refrigerate.
Potato filling
1 cup mashed potatoes 1 cup cheese (I used cheddar and gruyere) The ratio for the potato filling is 1 to 1. Easy stuff. Just mix well.
Ingredients
4 cups flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
Directions
Make a well just like you would do with pasta dough and knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
To make the pierogi, I take sections of the dough and run it through my pasta machine. If you don’t have one, you can use a rolling pin to create flat sheets of dough like you would for ravioli. You need something circular that is about 2-3 inches in diameter to cut holes in the dough. I use a big canning jar.
Once you have your circles, place a little dollop of filling in each one. I dip my fingers in cold water and dab the edges of the dough so that it seals nicely. Fold in half, pack the filling in, and use your fingertips to pinch, seal, and crimp the edges.
I boil these for about four minutes, then sear them in a hot pan on both sides with butter. To me, that light sear is important. It adds necessary texture to the dough. You’ll get a nice balance between the crispy pierogi and soft filling. Salt and pepper again.