Butternut Squash Pierogi

I had the idea to make butternut squash pierogi while driving to work. It's funny, that's where a lot of my ideas come from. I just hadn't made pierogi in a while and wanted to do something different. Then I remembered I had 15 butternut squash in my garage that were freshly picked from the garden, so I figured butternut squash pierogi would work out pretty well!

I have to say, I absolutely loved these. They are full of fresh, autumnal flavors. The sage comes through delightfully, but the delicate butternut squash is the star. Sauté these in some butter and onions, and the outside of the pierogi becomes perfectly crisp which lends itself to the tender center perfectly.
For the Pierogi Dough

Ingredients
Source: Martha Stewart

1 large egg
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup milk
1 cup water
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Directions

Make the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk egg. Add sour cream, and whisk until smooth. Add milk and 1 cup water, and whisk until combined. Slowly add about 3 cups flour, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and work in about 1 cup flour as you knead. Use a plastic scraper to lift dough as it will stick to the counter before flour is worked in. Continue kneading for 8 to 10 minutes, working in another 1/2 cup flour. The dough should be elastic in texture and no longer sticky. Be careful not to add too much flour, as this will toughen dough. Place dough in a lightly floured bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rest while you prepare filling.

Butternut Squash Filling
(Note - this will make about 30 or so pierogi, which is about half of the pierogi from the recipe above. I made 1/2 butternut squash and 1/2 potato, but if you want to make all butternut squash, I'd recommend doubling this recipe)

Ingredients
1 medium to large Butternut squash
4-6 large, fresh sage leaves
1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
1/8 - 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and discard. Place on the prepared baking sheet, cut side down, and bake until very soft with pierced with he top of a knife, about 35-45 minutes. Let cool to the touch. Peel the squash and place the flesh into a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients to the bowl, and stir well until very smooth.

To assemble pierogi:
On a floured surface, roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a glass or cookie cutter measuring 2 1/2 inches in diameter, cut out as many circles as possible. Gather dough scraps together, rolling them out again, and continue cutting.

Scoop a teaspoon of filling and place a ball in the center of each dough circle. Moisten the edges with water, fold over, and press together with a fork to seal. Repeat procedure with the remaining dough.

You can now freeze your Pierogi if you choose to do so. I put them on wax paper on a baking sheet and freeze for about 20 minutes or so. Then I put them in a larger air-tight container and layer them between wax paper. They freeze very well.

To cook pierogi (frozen or not) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add perogies and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until pierogi float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon. In a separate pan, melt about 1/2 stick of butter. Add about 1/2-1 cup of chopped onions and cook until translucent. Add boiled pierogi to pan and fry until golden brown on each side.

Pierogi Lasagna

When I saw this recipe I knew I had to try and it and blog about it! I found it on the Omnomicon blog and while my pictures are no where near as good as on that blog, I did what I could! This was great as a side to Kielbasa with carmelized onions. I thought the end result was a little bit on the "bland" side, but I blame myself because I think my potatoes were under seasoned. I will use more onions next time as well because i found they got lost in all of the potato and noodle goodness. Also, I wouldn't serve it as a main course or by itself because all those carbs get a little overwhelming. A protein is a must with this dish! Some Grilled Kielbasa is an excellent choice. But all in all, I thought this recipe was a really good take on a pierogi. I will probably make it again!

Ingredients
1 lb lasagna noodles
4 lbs red or white potatoes
1/4 c sour cream (optional)
1/2 c milk
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c butter (1.5 sticks) (I used about 3/4 - 1 stick)
1 onion, sliced in rings

Directions
Cook the noodles. Chop potatoes into 1" cubes, place in pot of cold water (enough to cover), and allow to come to a boil. Continue boil until potatoes are soft enough to yield to a fork stab. Drain, mash, blend with a mixer. Toss in the optional sour cream and milk, mix some more. Add salt to taste. Stir in cheddar.

Melt all the butter over medium-high heat, then sautee onion until the rings no longer hold their shape.

Preheat oven to 375. Grease the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with some of the onion-butter. Lay noodles on the bottom of the dish, then spread the potatoes, a dollop at a time, along the length of each noodle. Once done, smooth the potatoes, then spread about a quarter of the onion on top, and drizzle a small amount of butter as well. Repeat this twice (or more if your dish can accommodate), then top with noodles and the remainder of the onions and butter.

Pop in the oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Pierogi

Ahhh pierogi. What can I say? These little dumplings of happiness might possibly be my favorite food ever...thus my blog's name (and I'm just about 100% Polish and what's more polish than pierogi?). I should have made this my first post but didn't get around to making my little pierogi until this past weekend. I play around with recipes/ingrediants quite a bit in an effort to find "The best pierogi recipe ever" and I may have found it with this one. The dough was fabulous...and the potato "stuffing" was great. This one is definately for the archives. My husband devoured these little pierogi! Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pierogi-Polish-Dumplings/Detail.aspx

(Comments in italics are my notes!)

INGREDIENTS
Sauerkraut Filling (I didn't make the sauerkraut filling this time around...My husband and I perfer potato!)
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut, drained and minced
salt and pepper to taste

Potato Filling:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups cold mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper

I also added quite a bit of chopped sharp cheddar. Adds a nice bite!

Dough:
3 egg
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS
To prepare the sauerkraut filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the drained sauerkraut and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then remove to a plate to cool.

For the mashed potato filling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir into the mashed potatoes, and season with salt and white pepper.

To make the dough, beat together the eggs and sour cream until smooth. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder; stir into the sour cream mixture until dough comes together. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until firm and smooth. Divide the dough in half, then roll out one half to 1/8 inch thickness.

Cut into 3 inch rounds using a biscuit cutter... I find that the large end of a drinking glass works just as well, if not better!
Place a small spoonful of the mashed potato filling into the center of each round. Moisten the edges with water, fold over, and press together with a fork to seal. Repeat procedure with the remaining dough and the sauerkraut filling.

You can now freeze your Pierogi. I put them on wax paper on a baking sheet and freeze for about 20 minutes or so. Then I put them in a larger air-tight container and layer them between wax paper. They freeze very well.

To cook pierogi (frozen or not) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add perogies and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until pierogi float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon. In a seperate pan, melt about 1/2 stick of butter. Add about 1/2-1 cup of chopped onions and cook until traslucent. Add boiled pierogi to pan and fry until golden brown on each side. Serve with sour cream or just eat them plain! Enjoy!

Pierogi Education

You might be wondering why I'm refering to Pierogi in what appears to be the singular when it really should be plural. Well I was brought up in a Polish household always referring to pierogi as pierogi..never "Pierogies". While my parents aren't from Poland, their parents are. My parents both speak Polish but never taught it to my brother and I....so i'm not Polish-speaking wiz. I just know a few basics. But to help me explain the plural vs. singular for Pierogi, I went to Wikipedia which explains it as follows:

"Pierogi are usually small enough to be served several or many at a time, so the singular form is rather rare; people usually talk about several of them. This has affected forms of the word in different languages. In Polish, pierogi is plural, pieróg being singular. Other Slavic languages follow the same scheme, with Russian vareniki the plural of varenik and Ukrainian varenyky the plural of varenyk (both derived from the root varit', "to boil"). --Wikepedia under "Pierogi".

So, this being said, the title of my Blog doesn't make much sense...Le Petit being Singular and Pierogi being plural. However...I didn't think it made sense to have an American blog entitled "Le Petit pieróg" when most (if not all) Americans call a pierogi a pierogi. In addition, "Les Petits Pierogi" sounds odd to an American reader, in my opinion. Plus I'm combing French and Polish which makes absolutely no sense at all....so my blog title is a little quirky and gramatically incorrect, but hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want!

Hopefully this is all you ever wanted to know about pierogi!