Yesterday for whatever reason I was craving perogies. I've only had them in restaurants and once out of a box of frozen ones, and really, I had no idea what making them might entail. I knew only that they sounded really, really good for dinner. And since I have made 2012 the year I cook more from scratch, well, why not give them a try? 

Thank goodness for the Internet, which gives us instant access to just about anything, including countless ways to make (and spell!) perogies. 

I didn't have long to settle on a recipe so I pretty much went with the first one I found, even though I didn't have all the ingredients. Below is my variation on that recipe--which was waaaaaaaaaaaay off on the filling quantity--with some directions I figured out along the way. 

These take a little time but they are tasty and easy, I promise. I ended up with about 15 perogies. 

Dough

2 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1/4 c soft butter, cut into small pieces
up to 1/3 c water

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, beat together the eggs, then add to the flour mixture. Try to stir as best you can. Add the butter and try to stir, but I had to use my hands. I added a little water at a time until I could get the dough manageable, kneading the dough to get everything blended. The kneading made the dough less sticky, more elastic.

Once the dough is hardly sticky any longer and feels kind of stretchy, put in a tupperware or plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 30 minutes. 

Now start on your filling: 

Filling
(Note: the recipe I started with called for 6 large potatoes! I didn't use that many and still had twice the amount of filling I needed so I am guessing on quantities here. If you have leftover filling, make potato pancakes with it. That's what we're having tonight.)

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into small 1/2" chunks
1/4 c diced onion
2 - 4 T butter or other fat (I used goose fat)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until tender enough to mash, about 15 minutes. Drain. (Reserve the potato water for making soup stock another day.) 

Heat the fat in a skillet over medium heat and saute the onions until tender and just starting to turn golden. Turn off heat. Add the potatoes and mix them in, mashing them with the spoon if you do. It's okay if they are still kind of chunky. You're mashing them to mix them with the onions, that's all, and to make your filling a little easier to work with. Taste and add salt and pepper until you're happy with it. 

Let cool while you get your circles of dough cut out. 

Lightly flour your board. Roll out the dough the best you can to 1/8" thick. It will be a little rubbery at first, but eventually you'll get it. Cut out circles with a glass or other round something. I used a regular drinking glass. 

Now you're making the dumpling part. I found I had to stretch out each of my circles a little before putting the filling on them. You might not have to. Either way, put 1 t to 1 T filling on the middle of a circle, then fold over and pinch the edges together really, really well and set aside while you work on the others. 

When your perogies are ready, cook them in pot of not quite boiling water. I brought the water to a boil per the directions but then turned the heat down one notch so the water was a very gentle boil, so as not to destroy my poor little perogies! Cook a few at a time, so you don't over crowd them. I could fit 6 into my pot. Cook until they float to the surface, about 5 minutes. Lift out with a slotted spoon and put in a colandar sitting on a plate while you cook the others. 

When they are all cooked, heat up 2 to 4 T of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Now saute your perogies until just golden. I found a couple of minutes on one side, a flip, and a couple of minutes on the other side worked perfectly. 

We had these with sour cream only, but some chives would have been divine. My picky eater ate them and took them to school for lunch today despite the onion (which she hates), so they must have tasted pretty good! 

Try out this recipe and let me know what you think, submit your own pictures even. :-)