Polish Potato Pierogi

Photo: flickr user revjim5000

Ingredients

5 lbs. potatoes

Salt

pepper to taste

1/4 pound cream cheese

1/4 pound butter

1 pound Farmer's cheese

2 1/2 pounds flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

2 1/2 cups cold water

Preparation

Peel and boil potatoes until soft. While potatoes are still hot, add remaining ingredients for filling while mashing potatoes. Blend well. Allow filling to cool.

Place flour, salt and eggs into large bowl. While adding water, beat with electric mixer. Add enough water to make dough soft and workable for kneading. You can always add more flour if dough is too soft.

After dough is mixed well by electric mixer or doughmaker, place dough on well floured board and knead until it does not stick to board or fingers.

Cut off a handful of dough and cover remaining dough with linen towel. Roll out small ball of dough into a circle. Dough will tend to "snap back" when rolled out, so it takes much rolling with the rolling pin. When finally rolled to approximately 1/8 inch thickness, cut out circles from dough using a round cookie cutter, glass or cup rim. Circle should be approximately 3 inches in diameter. Dough scraps may be re-rolled

Take a circle of dough, stretching it slightly and place it into the palm of your hand. With your dominant other hand place a large tablespoon of filling into the center of the circle. Be careful not to touch edge of circle of dough with filling; the edges will then not stick together well and may open when being boiled. After the filling is in the center of the dough circle, fold the dough in half, covering the filling and making a half circle. Press the 2 edges of dough together with the tips of your forefinger and thumb. Go back again and seal again with your thumb nail.

Boil water in a large pot. When water is boiling, drop in 5 to 7 pierogi and use a wooden spoon to make sure that none are stuck to the pot or to each other. Do not boil a large mount of pierogi at the same time. Boil for 7 minutes. Pierogi should be floating on top of water after 7 minutes. Remove pierogi, one at a time, with a slotted spoon and layer them in a serving or casserole dish, pouring melted butter between layers.

Boiling water may continue to be reused unless a pierogi breaks open during boiling, then making the water too cloudy with potatoes.

Continue process of filling and cutting out dough, filling and boiling until all dough and filling is used. Leftover dough may be rolled out, cut into squares, boiled, cooled, and then fried in butter until crispy (called PLOTSKIS).

IMPLEMENTATION: Serve immediately with melted butter and a side dish of sour cream and, or onions sauteed in butter.

Or, refrigerate boiled pierogi. Then, when cool, fry until golden brown in butter. Again serve with melted butter and a side dish of either sour cream, onions sauteed in butter, or grape jelly. Salt to taste.

Pierogi may be frozen, separated on cookie sheets, before boiling. When frozen solid, they may be grouped into bags or containers for further freezing. DO NOT DEFROST. Place frozen pierogi immediately into boiling water, but instead of boiling for only 7 minutes, boil 10 to 12 minutes. Boiled pierogi will stay fresh refrigerated for 7 to 10 days.