Homemade Cheddar Cheese Pierogies with Sauteed Onions and Bacon

Ok, doesn’t the recipe title just make you say…mmmmm…Well, it does to me. The first time I ever had a pierogi was in college. My now husband had purchased a box of frozen pierogies and occasionally would boil some up, with a random dish I was making. I thought  it was nice, different way to have meat and potatoes. I had been thinking of trying my hand at making some for a while. Last week, for my Hanukkah themed cooking, I had made knishes for Hanukkah. The recipe methods are so similar and easy, that I decided to finally make some. Best part, you can make a lot and freeze them. I love dishes that I can freeze!

Ingredients for Dough:

4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

2 cups of sour cream (PLUS EXTRA For Serving)

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Ingredients for Filling:

4 baking potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for Serving:

1 large Spanish onion, sliced

4 strips of bacon, chopped (or one tablespoon of butter)

Cheddar Pierogies with sautéed Onions and Bacon

Directions:

1. Combine dough ingredients and cover with a towel. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes
2. Combine mashed potatoes, cheese, salt and pepper.
3. Roll out half the dough on a floured surface. You want the dough about 1/4 inch
4. Using a glass, cut out circles of dough
5. In each circle, add about 1 teaspoon of filling (depending on size of your circle), brush edges of circle with water and fold circle in half.
6. Press a fork around the edges to seal
7. To Freeze for Later: place pierogi on baking sheet covered with parchment paper and Freeze. After the pierogies are frozen, transfer them into storage bags
8. To Eat Now: Bring a pot of water to boil, drop pierogies into boiling water. When they float to the top, they are done (Remove immediately or they get soggy).
9. In a separate a frying pan, saute bacon and onions until onions are translucent. (If you do not want bacon, use a 1 tablespoon of butter instead)
10. Add pierogies and let them become golden brown (turn them occasionally)

Serve with sour cream on the side

Pierogi Dough

Cheddar Potato Filling

Assembly line!

Pierogi Ready For Freezing or Boiling

*Whew* I ended up making 89 Pierogies. I served 32 of them during dinner and froze the rest.