Potato and Mushroom Pierogies with Roasted Apples
- 4 large eggs, plus 1 egg for egg wash
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted unsalted butter, cooled
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for sauteing
- 1 large leek
- 10 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
- Roasted Apples, recipe follows
- To make the pierogi dough: Mix the 4 eggs, butter, sour cream, and salt together in a bowl with a whisk.
- Sift the flour onto a flat work surface and make a well in the center, pour the wet ingredients into the crater.
- Stir the mixture together with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour into the well until a soft dough forms.
- Squeeze the dough with your hands, if it's too sticky, add a bit of flour; if it's not pliable, add a couple of drops of water.
- Knead the dough, adding only as much additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking, until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
- Gather the dough into a ball and cover it with an inverted bowl or plastic wrap for 10 minutes or so to rest.
- To make the filling: Cook the potato cubes in boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Drain and then mash them with a ricer or regular old potato masher while they are still hot; set them aside to cool while preparing the rest of the filling.
- Trim the root off the end of the leek and cut off all but 1-inch of the green part.
- Halve the leek lengthwise and rinse really well under cool water, checking for dirt everywhere; it gets trapped in all the layers of outer leaves.
- Slice the leek finely.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
- Add the leek, mushrooms, and thyme, saute for a few minutes to soften the vegetables; season with salt and pepper.
- Continue to cook until the vegetables are broken down and almost dry, then pour in the cream, stir to incorporate.
- Remove the pan from the heat, take out the sprigs of thyme, and scrape the mushroom mixture into the potatoes, mix well to incorporate the ingredients.
- Make sure the filling is not too hot, or it will start to cook the dough, causing it to sog.
- Lightly flour your rolling pin and counter.
- Take 1/2 of the dough (leaving the rest covered so it doesn't dry out while you work) and roll it out into a thin circle, about 1/8-inch thick.
- Using a 3-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut circles out of the dough.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling into the center of each pastry circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
- Beat the remaining egg with 2 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash and brush it on the edges of the circle.
- Fold the dough over in 1/2 to enclose the filling and form a semi-circle and seal the edges by crimping with the tines of a fork.
- Lightly tap the bottoms of the dumplings on the counter to make it flat.
- Repeat with the remaining half of dough and filling.
- You should make about 35 pierogies; put 1/2 of them in the freezer to keep on hand (they are better than the ones you find in the frozen section of the grocery store.)
- Coat a large saute pan (that has a tight fitting lid) with vegetable oil and place over medium heat.
- Lay the pierogies in the pan (you may have to do this in batches) and fry them for a couple of minutes until they start to crisp and brown on both sides.
- Pour in 1 cup of water and cover the pan to let the pierogies steam; when the water evaporates the turnovers should be cooked and crisp.
- Arrange the pierogies on a platter, garnish with parsley, and serve with roasted apples and/or sour cream.
- 3 Gala apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
- 3 Golden Delicious, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spread the apples out in a casserole pan and add the lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, salt, and butter.
- Bake until the apples are roasted and soft, about 30 minutes.
- Serve the chunky apple sauce with pierogies, either hot or chilled.
- Yield: 2 cups
eggs, butter, sour cream, salt, flour, potatoes, unsalted butter, leek, mushrooms, thyme, kosher salt, heavy cream, flatleaf parsley, apples
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/potato-and-mushroom-pierogies-with-roasted-apples-recipe.html (may not work)