The mashed potato recipe in last week’s column works as a side dish, but I primarily use it to fill pierogi. The semidry texture of Rustic Lemon Cheese Mashed Potatoes stays tucked in dumplings as they boil, and the lemon cheese softens without turning greasy.
The cheese-and-potato filling is just one of many for homemade pierogi. I also like sautéed mushrooms, fried cabbage and onion and the Russian-Inspired Soured Cabbage or the Apple and Cabbage Kraut in my pickling cookbook. I often go big when making pierogi, dividing several fillings among a double batch of dough, serving bowlfuls of dumplings for dinner and freezing the rest to pan-fry later for quick meals.
Potato and Lemon Cheese Pierogi
Makes about 30 pierogi
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup near-boiling water
About 1/3 cup ice water
2 teaspoons sunflower or other mild oil
About 3 cups Rustic Lemon Cheese Mashed Potatoes
In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt with a fork. Create a well in the center and slowly pour in the hot water, mixing until crumbly. Drizzle in 1/3 cup of ice-cold water and quickly stir until the flour clumps. Knead the dough in the bowl, incorporating any stuck to the sides, for about one minute. Add the oil, and ice water a tablespoon at a time if needed, and knead for another one to two minutes, until a rough ball forms.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for three to five minutes, sprinkling sparingly with flour if sticky and stopping when the smooth surface eases back if poked. Divide the dough into thirds, shape each into a firm ball, cover with a damp tea towel and let rest for at least 20 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, flatten one ball into a rough circle. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough about 1/16 inch thick, without flipping it. Using a biscuit cutter or glass rim, cut out 3-1/2- to 4-inch-diameter circles and set them on lightly floured parchment. Roll and cut out the remaining dough balls, and then gather all the scraps into one ball and reroll and cut out the remaining dough.
Scoop a scant tablespoon of potato and lemon cheese filling into the center of each dough circle, keeping the perimeter clean. Fold each wrapper over the filling, forming a half-moon. Crimp the edges together, tightly sealing the filling inside. Set each filled pierogi on lightly floured parchment.
Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook the pierogi in batches small enough that the water maintains a rapid simmer. To parboil for freezing, cook the pierogi for about one minute, until they start floating, and then immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water; when cooled, drain and freeze on a tray. To fully cook, boil for another three minutes after the pierogi start to float; drain on a parchment-lined baking tray and serve hot.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger. Learn more about this month’s cooking workshops at TwiceAsTasty.com.