Pierogi

I love starch, especially potatoes and pasta. Pierogi combine both of these things, which makes them one of my favorite foods on the planet. I used a recipe from Gourmet this time, and they turned out pretty tasty (well...the butter and onions didn't hurt the flavor either...) Here is the recipe. I used a pasta maker to roll out the dough uniformly (as opposed to rolling out the dough, which always seems to be too elastic and doesn't hold its shape). To make for ten people, double the following portions.

For dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
• 1 cup water
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

For potato filling

• 1 1/2 pound russet (baking) potatoes
• 2 c. grated cheddar cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 c. milk

For onion topping

• 1 1/2 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 stick butter

• Special equipment: a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter
• Accompaniment: sour cream

preparation

Make dough:
Put flour into Kitchenaid mixer bowl. Add water, egg, oil, and salt to well and carefully combine with a fork without incorporating flour. Turn on mixer, using the dough hook, and let knead for about five minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Invert a bowl over dough and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Make filling while dough stands:
Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces. Cook potatoes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain potatoes, then transfer to a bowl along with cheese, salt, pepper, butter and milk and mash with a potato masher.

When mashed potatoes are cool enough to handle, spoon out a rounded teaspoon and lightly roll into a ball between palms of your hands. Transfer ball to a plate and keep covered with plastic wrap while making 47 more balls in same manner (there will be a little filling left over).

Make onion topping:
Cook onion in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently toward end of cooking), until slightly brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Form and cook pierogi:
Halve dough and roll out 1 half (keep remaining half under inverted bowl) on lightly floured surface (do not overflour surface or dough will slide instead of stretching) with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 15-inch round (1/8 inch thick), then cut out 24 rounds with lightly floured cutter (this is where I used the pasta maker, rolling out the dough with the #2 setting). Holding 1 round in palm of your hand, put 1 potato ball in center of round and close your hand to fold round in half, enclosing filling. Pinch edges together to seal completely. (Brush half of the edge with water, then seal; do not leave any gaps or pierogi may open during cooking.) Transfer pierogi to a lightly floured kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and cover with another towel. Form more pierogi in same manner.

Bring a 6- to 8-quart pot of salted water to a boil. Add half of pierogies, stirring once or twice to keep them from sticking together, and cook 5 minutes from time pierogies float to surface. Transfer as cooked with a slotted spoon to onion topping and toss gently to coat. Cook remaining pierogies in same manner, transferring to onions. Reheat pierogies in onion topping over medium-low heat, gently tossing to coat.

Serve with sour cream, onions and maybe a little bit of cheese on top! Mmm!