My Morning Chocolate

Cheese Pierogi

This past weekend, I made pierogi with Buszi (my grandmother, pronounced Boo-she), Aunt Jo (my great-aunt; they are sisters), my mom, my Aunt Barb, and my cousin Jackie.  It was a family effort learning how to make these doughy pockets of our Polish ancestry.

I should say here that I do not celebrate Poland’s culture often.  We get together on Christmas Eve, as they do in Poland, and we break oplatek, which is blessed unleavened bread.  Buszi and Aunt Jo sang Polish songs at my wedding.  I call my grandparents Buszi and Dziadzi, the Polish words for grandmother and grandfather.  And there it ends.

But now I am trying to learn more about Poland through food.  So we made cheese pierogi (pierogi can also be made with sauerkraut – my mom’s and Kenny’s favorites so I’ll have to post this recipe soon).

With cheese pierogi, the type of cheese you use will determine whether your filling stays in its pocket.  You must use dry cheese; otherwise, Buszi says your filling will ooze out of your pierogi when you boil them.

And the cheese really must be dry.  Feta is too wet; goat cheese is too wet.  We used a special Polish cheese (called farmers cheese or dry cottage cheese).  It looks like tofu except it is almost completely lacking in moisture.  If you live in Baltimore, Buszi says you can buy this cheese from the Polish woman who works in the Broadway Market in Fell’s Point.

Dry cheese, called farmers cheese, bought from the Broadway Market in Fell's Point, Baltimore

With the right cheese, these pierogi are easy to make.

Cheese Pierogi

Dough
9 medium potatoes, peeled
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plain dry bread crumbs
Salt to taste
1 egg

Filling
1 ½ cups farmer’s cheese
½ tsp sugar
2 eggs
¼ tsp salt

1) Boil the potatoes until soft and put through a ricer.

Ricing the Potatoes

2) Mix in the flour, bread crumbs, and salt, then the eggs.  Use your hands to gather the dough, kneading it until a soft dough forms.

3) In a separate bowl, press the cheese with a spoon to remove lumps and create a smoother consistency.  Stir in the sugar, eggs, and salt.  Taste and, if you like, add more salt.

4) Tear off pieces of dough.  Ours were all sizes, some big and small, and they turned out fine, but you should aim for the size in the picture below.  Liberally dust with flour (both the dough and your hands).

5) Pat the dough into a circle and lay some of the cheese mixture in the middle (not too much, not too little).  Fold the dough in half to form a pocket and press the ends together to seal.

Take a small piece of dough, about the size of the circle on the left. Then stuff it with cheese, fold it in half, and seal the edges.

Pierogi that have been filled and sealed.

6) Boil in salted water until the pierogi rise to the top of the pot, about 5 minutes. At this point, the pierogi can be frozen if you like. Wrap them in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag. Before using, thaw in the refrigerator until soft.

When boiling, the pierogi will first sink to the bottom. When ready, they will rise to the top.

7) When ready to eat, add some butter or oil to a pan (as much or as little as you like) and fry the pierogi until golden on each side. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Leniwe (pronounced le-nee-vay, also called Easy Pierogi or Lazy Pierogi)
We had leftover cheese so Aunt Jo made these leniwe. They’re easy pierogi, made without the dough.

Leniwe, or easy pierogi, do not need to be stuffed.

2 cups dry cottage cheese (farmers cheese)
1 tbsp butter
4 eggs
½ tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour

1) Press cheese with a spoon to remove the lumps.  Add butter, eggs, salt, sugar, and flour.  Beat or mix with a spoon until light.

2) Take half of the dough and roll it into a log.  Then slice into leniwe, any size you like.

Roll the dough into a log, then slice into leniwe.

3) Boil in salted water until the leniwe rise to the top, about 5 minutes.

Like traditional pierogi, leniwe rise to the top of the boiling water when ready.

4) When you are ready to eat them, fry in butter or oil until golden and sprinkle with salt to taste.