roasted garlic piergoies

Pierogies are delicious. They are perfect little pillows of cheese and potato and dough- plus onions on the side. They are basically pillows for fried onions. Amazingly perfect. I could eat them everyday. I actually used to. They are so cheap to buy frozen pierogies, I used to eat them all the time for dinner while I was in college. Not any more! Ed is never really satisfied with just pierogies, but you can't always get what you want. I want pierogies, so here they are!

The dough is simple. No yeast. No mixing bowl. The hardest part is washing the dough off your hands, even that is pretty simple. Those are just yolks you see up there- the liquidy part is vegetable oil.

Basically, you are going to use your hands to do what a mixer would do. But it's more fun this way. Whisk the eggs and oil together first.

Slowly pour in water and keep mixing with your hands. Keep adding water until your dough is sticky, but still fully incorporated.

That looks pretty good. Your hands aren't done yet! Now it's time to knead. Count your kneads to 30 and you should be good to go. The dough should be elastic and pretty smooth.

Yea, basically like that.

Wrap up the dough in plastic wrap then pop it in the fridge. Say good bye for about an hour.

Meanwhile, you can start on the mashed potato filling. This is imperative, so listen up. Make sure you use nice hearty, starchy potatoes like a russet. It's important. And I'm sure it goes without saying that you need to peel the potatoes. I usually hate to peel potatoes but here's where it's necessary.

Nora loves raw potato- despite the fact she looks skeptical here.

Once the potatoes are soft, mash 'em up! If you need a tutorial on roasted garlic, check this out! So here's what up there- roasted garlic, butter, milk, salt and pepper.

Then, mix in the sharp white cheddar cheese. Trust me. You want it in there.

It basically took all my willpower not to each the mashed potatoes just like this and forget about the dough.

Here's how the little dough rounds are make. Start by cutting the round ball of dough into 4 equal parts.

Roll each one of those 4 sections into a long roll, about 1 inch thick.

Then, slice each one of those rolls into 4 equal parts! Roll each one of those little sections into a ball, then using a rolling pin, flatten them into circles.

Just like that. Doesn't need to be perfect!

Drop some potatoes on one side of the round, fold it over and crimp it with a fork.

Perfect. Keep going!

You should end up with 16 pierogies... and you will want all 16.

Boil until they float and serve with fried onions. You'll never go back to frozen pierogies again!

Roasted Garlic Pierogies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup hot water

2 large russet potatoes, peeled and boiled

1/4 cup milk

1 cup sharp white cheddar cheese

8 cloves roasted garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Create a small mound of flour on a large surface. Create a crater in the center and add the egg yolks, vegetable oil and salt. Using your left hand, pour the water into the dough while using your right hand to mix. Add only enough water to incorporate until you have a dough that's only slightly sticky. Knead dough 25-30 times or at least until the dough is elastic and supple. Refrigerate for 1 hour. In a large mixing boil, combine the potatoes, roasted garlic, milk and cheddar cheese with a hand mixer. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove dough from fridge and split into 4 equal parts. Roll each part into a 1 inch roll and cut into 1 inch chunks. Stretch each chunk into a fairly thin disk much like a pizza crust. Fill each disk with the potato mixture. Seal using a fork. Drop each dumpling into boiling, salted water for 5 minutes. Serve with onions sauteed in butter and oil. Enjoy!