Just before Christmas, some very close family friends invited me to help make their annual pile of pierogi. Joanne and her daughters Jane, Anne and Sara are the neighbors I had while growing up that were like an extra mother and sisters for me. They are of Polish ancestry and have a yearly tradition of making these for the holidays. I haven’t written about it until now because I was having a really hard time coming up with something to say that didn’t sound all sappy and nostalgic. So instead of a long intro, I’m going to give you more pictures than usual and the recipe at the end. If you want to make these, I suggest you invite a group of friends over the help you put them together; it is a little time consuming, but if you do it while sipping on some wine and reminiscing about the past, it won’t be tedious at all.

This is the set up. You can see on the right next to the bowl of filling the white plastic pierogi shaper, they use this, but also use just their fingers to crimp the edges.

This is Jane, Anne and their Aunt Suzy rolling out dough and filling the pierogi

This is Joanne cooking the pierogi and making the brown butter to drizzle on them.

Before boiling.

This is Anne eating and acting goofy.

After we put them in the pans and poured the browned butter over them, we covered them with aluminum foil. We got some to take home with us and Joanne put the rest in the refrigerator; they make them a day ahead of time and reheat them when they need them.

pierogi

Joanne makes two traditional fillings for pierogi: potato with cheese and sauerkraut with mushrooms. When they are boiled and drained, she pours a small amount of browned butter on them. That’s right, brown butter. Some people like their pierogi with applesauce or sour cream, but the brown butter really obviates the need for any other accompaniment.

for dough

(ingredients listed below are for one batch of dough; Joanne makes about 10 batches to use up all of the filling in the recipes listed below)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, not sifted
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cold water

Place flour and salt in a bowl large enough to contain all ingredients, whisk to combine. Add egg and cold water and mix until dough forms a shaggy mass. Gather dough together and form into a ball. Let dough sit for at least 10 minutes or refrigerate for 1-24 hours. To make enough dough for all of the filling in the recipes below, repeat this process 10 times to make 10 balls of dough.

for potato cheese filling

• 2 1/2 – 3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
• 3/4 cup half and half, more if necessary
• 4 T butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 small onion, diced

Peel potatoes, cut into quarters, place into pot and cover with water. Heat on high until just boiling then turn heat to a bare simmer. Cook potatoes 20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and return potatoes to pot. Add half and half and mash potatoes using a potato masher (alternatively: use a ricer and then add half and half). Melt butter in a sauté pan and cook onions are just soft. Stir into potatoes, mix in cheddar cheese. Let cool before using. May be made and refrigerated up to two days in advance.

for sauerkraut and mushroom filling

• 1 32 oz. jar vlasic sauerkraut, drained
• 1 4-6 oz. package dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted with 1 cup boiling water, diced (do not discard liquid)
• 1 T butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Melt 1 T butter in pan an sauté mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, add mushroom liquid and reduce until almost completely dry. Add sauerkraut and salt and pepper as needed. Let cool before using. May be made and refrigerated up to two days in advance.

for assembly and serving

• 1 stick butter (or more to taste)

Roll dough out to about 1/8″ thickness. Use a 3″ cookie cutter or other round implement (such as a pint glass) to cut rounds of dough. Place one tablespoon of filling in center and moisten edges of dough with water. Fold dough over and pinch edges to seal or use a pierogi crimper. Cook pierogi in boiling water until they float to the top (not all of them will always float, so check for doneness after about 8 minutes). Remove pierogi with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Heat butter in a small pan over medium heat until solids separate and fall to the bottom of the pan and butter begins to brown. Arrange pierogi in 2 large roasting pans and drizzle with browned butter. You may serve them immediately or cover them with aluminum foil and refrigerate until needed; reheat in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.