Bacon and Cheddar Pierogies

I love homemade pierogies. They are chewy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. You can fill them with many things including fruit for a sweet pierogi. I like the sweet onions and the salty bacon and cheddar cheese in these. They freeze perfectly and are easy to reheat when you are rushed for a quick meal.


You will need:

Dough

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 -1/3 cup water

Filling

• 2 russet potatoes (baking potatoes)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp milk
• 4 oz/ 1/2 cup shredded old cheddar cheese
• 3 slices bacon
• 1 onion caramelized (2 tbsp for filling and the rest for finishing)
• salt/pepper

* serve with sour cream

Step 1: poke a few holes with a knife on each side of the potatoes. Then bake at 350 degrees F

 for 1 -1 1/2 hours until soft.

Step 2: slice onion and fry with olive oil and salt on medium/low until carmelized. This may take 20-30 minutes. Stir often.

Step 3: while still hot slice potatoes in half and scoop out all the flesh with a spoon. In a medium sized bowl add butter and milk and mix. Then add shredded cheddar and some salt and pepper.

 It should look like mashed potatoes.

Step 4: slice bacon into slivers and fry until crispy. Drain on paper towel.

Step 5: add bacon to filling.

Step 6: once onions have carmelized you can add 2 tbsp to filling and mix. Reserve the balance to fry at the end.

Step 7: prepare dough. Add flour to a medium sized bowl. Form a well in the centre and add egg, oil, sour cream, salt and  1/4 cup water. Mix with a fork and then put on counter to fully knead into a dough. If  the dough is too dry add additional water.

Step 8: roll out dough thin.

Step 9: cut out circles. I prefer a smaller pierogy so mine are 1 1/2 inch circles but, you can make them larger if you prefer.

Step 10: put a small amount of filling on each circle. I used 1 tsp.

Step 11: dip your finger in water and run your finger along one side of the circle. Then fold over the pierogi and pinch the tip together. This is a nice dough and it will stretch. try to keep the filling inside by pushing it down with your finger when necessary.

Step 12: carefully pinch down one side of the pierogy to seal. If you need some flour this sometimes helps for a good seal. 

Step 13: carefully press filling to stay in and then pinch along the other side to seal. 

You may need to go along the seam and pinch again to ensure a good seal.

Step 14: coat in flour to make sure they do not stick to counter or each other.

Step 15: repeat until all are stuffed and sealed. You can take the scraps and re-roll out to use all dough. If you have any filling leftover, you can freeze it for a later date or I make a twice baked potato and add the additional filling to my potato stuffing mix. The Pierogi can be frozen on a tray and then once frozen put into a Ziploc bag. You can cook them in boiling water from frozen once you are ready.

To prepare get a pot of boiling salted water and add pierogy. Once they float to the top cook one minute. In a fry pan add your carmelized onions with a bit of olive oil or butter and fry until almost crispy. Add boiled pierogy and fry until you get a nice browned spot on each side. Serve hot with sour cream, salt and pepper.