Baba’s Homemade Perogies

What a great time the family has been having lately, with all of the wedding festivities, and the return of summer like weather. My Baba stayed an extra day after the wedding to make a few batched of perogies with us. We were so lucky to be able to get her secret recipe, and boy, was it ever a treat! My sisters and I have been enjoying these perogies since we were little kids, and we never tire of them. They were always highly anticipated family meals, when prepared, and they still are today!

Baba uses dry cottage cheese and minced potato in hers perogies. Very simple, but ridiculously delicious.

The dough was simple as well, and was left to rise for the better part of the day (see the little air bubbles?)

The dough was so stringy and sticky that we had to cut off big chunks with a knife before rolling it out.

This was my work station, where I was the dough roller and cutter.

It took a while (and some fancy rolling pin action) to get the dough to roll out smooth, because it kept springing back at me.

There’s my little perogy cut out!

Here’s my Baba expertly stuffing and pinching the perogies into their ideal-sized pockets.

She used about a half a tablespoon in each perogy, so not to over-stuff them.

She pinched them along the sides…

making sure to pay extra attention to the ends, as they tend to come apart in the water while boiling.

We put them on cookie trays, sprinkled with a bit of flour, and froze them like this. That way, they do not clump together in the freezer, and stay together better while they are boiling. Oh yes, there is a method to our madness!

Here I am, rolling out more dough, while the others pinched away!

And soon, we had LOADS of perogies, to last us quite a while!

To prepare them, I used my Baba’s favorite method. I began by cooking up some bacon, and boiling some water.

I had to take a shot of my perogies before they went into the water. This is what you would like to avoid by freezing the fresh perogies on trays first. Since I was impatient, and didn’t want to wait for them to individually freeze before taking them home, I ended up with a big frozen clump…

Ah, bacon and onions, the perfect pairing to homemade perogies!

I’m so lucky that my clumped perogies separated in the boiling water (I added some canola oil, so that they would separate.)

When they begin to float, transfer them to a pan with some oil (I used a bit of the leftover bacon grease), and fry them up until they reach your desired crispiness.

I served them with a side salad, and a side of bacon. Yum! Oh and don’t forget your sour cream and jam. Then you’re in for a traditional Ukrainian feast!

Baba’s Homemade Perogies

For the dough, you will need:

4 cups all purpose flour

1 Teaspoon of salt

2 Teaspons vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1 cup warm water (or reserve potato water)

1 egg, beaten

For the filling, you will need:

1 pound of peeled, cooked, and minced potatoes (reserve potato water after cooking)

1 pound of dry cottage cheese

1 teaspoon each of salt & pepper

In a large bowl (we used a large pot), mix together flour, salt and bakign powder. Make a well in the centre.

In a separate bowl, mix together vegetable oil, warm water (or reserve potato water), and the egg. Pour into the well of dry ingredients. Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cover dough and let rise for 2 hours. Roll out and fill.

While you are waiting, make your filling by peeling, cooking and mincing 1 pound of potatoes and mixing them with 1 pound of dry cottage cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When dough has risen, roll it out thin and, using a round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Fill with 1/2 tablespoon of filling and pinch all sides of perogy closed.

Freeze on a baking sheet, which has been lightly dusted with flour. When frozen, transfer perogies to a freezer-safe ziplock bag.

To serve, boil perogies from frozen. When they begin to float, transfer drained perogies to a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Fry until desired crispiness has been reached. Serve with Ukrainian sausage or bacon and onions. Enjoy with sour cream and jam!