Potato and Cheese Pierogi Recipe

A pierogi recipe. Because that’s what I needed to make this week. Carbs inside carbs. Delicious, yes, but also dangerous.

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Potato and Cheese Pierogi (Pirohy)

A variant on the potato and cheese pastry classic

Course Main Course

Cuisine German, Polish

Keyword Bacon, Cheese, Dumpling, Pierogi, Potato

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Dough Resting Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 10 pierogies

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp butter softened

Filling

• 2 russet potatoes
• .3 cups ricotta
• .5 cups mozarella
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• .25 tsp basil
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Sauce

• Unused filling
• .3 cups heavy cream
• 1 splash white wine
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 slices bacon, crumbled *Omit to make it vegetarian

Instructions

Dough

• Combine ingredients in a bowl and mix until incorporated and stretchy. Add additional flour if too sticky.
• Let rest for at least 30 minutes

Filling

• In a dutch oven or large pan, cook bacon. Place bacon in a separate bowl. Reserve 2 tsp of bacon grease. Without Add water to fill the dutch oven back halfway (don't rinse out the bacon drippings). You can also add some bouillon to the water if desired for taste. Let water heat to a simmer.
• Pierce potatoes with fork and cook potatoes until soft. Can be boiled in water on stove top, or in microwave per your preference. Allow potatoes to cool, remove skins, and mash.
• Combine potatoes, spices, and cheeses in a bowl.

Pierogi

• Roll out dough on a floured surface using rolling pin
• Using a stamp, cup, cookie cutter, or bowl, cut circles of dough out
• Brush water on one side of the cutout and place a ball of filling into center of cutout. Gently fold over filling and pinch the edges shut, creating a the traditional half-moon shape. If you don't use all of the filling, it can be incorporated into the sauce.
• Ease dumplings into boiling water. Let them cook for 5-10 minutes, waiting for them to float* before removing them
• Meanwhile, add unused filling and cream to medium saucepan on medium heat, whisking to incorporate. Add a splash of wine and continue stirring while pierogies cook
• Drain pierogies (prioritize this over the sauce) and add reserved bacon and bacon grease. Season with salt and pepper to taste

  Optional: add olive oil to the drained pan and let the pierogi brown/crisp
• Drizzle sauce lightly over pierogi if desired

Notes

*Floating here refers to a glorified bobbing that occurs when the dumpling wants desperately to float despite the weight of its savory filling.

Pirohy, Pierogi, Piroig, Dumpling

Savory and sating, with a fluffy density from the mashed potato and a satisfyingly rich flavor from cheese and spices, this dumpling will warm your heart (or at least your stomach). It’s the offspring of mash potatoes and mac and cheese, or perhaps the distantly-shared relative of the two comfort-food staples we have today.

This pierogi recipe may be more aligned with the pirohy of Slovakian tradition, but to be honest, I have neither the knowledge nor the authority to make a steadfast claim either way. This recipe does swing towards the non-traditional, making use of more Italian cheeses, varied spices, and Greek yogurt. Pierogi, like most dumplings, have options to hold all kinds of fun fillings. There are opportunities to include potatoes, cabbage, meats, cheeses, onions, curds, and even jams. (Experiments with these will come in due time, don’t worry).

The sauce is non-traditional; it was just my way of using extra filling ingredients (you’d be surprised what you can hide in a cream-based sauce). A simple alternative would be light olive oil, salt, and pepper. Many recipes recommend serving pierogi with sauteed onions or sauerkraut.