We accidentally stumbled upon this recipe for these delicious sourdough perogies. And this was much welcomed! We love perogies and simply have not had any for a very long time, so when we tested this recipe and discovered these were absolutely scrumptious, and we could not get enough, we knew we had a recipe we needed to keep!
I grew up eating a variety of perogies — every flavor from potato with bacon and onion to cheesy potato to sauerkraut and onion to potato with cottage cheese and dill and even ones that were filled with a sweet prune filling and then deep fried. No matter what filling you stuff it with, perogies are simply delicious!
Perogies go by many spellings – pyrohy, pierogi, pyrogy just to name a few, and are made by many cultures. They are a type of dumpling that can be filled with potatoes, meat and mushrooms, buckwheat, saskatoons, cottage cheese, jam or sauerkraut, depending upon culture and location. These little dumplings of delectable goodness date back to the 1200’s but began appearing in cookbooks in the 1600’s. Pioneers who settled here brought their own variations in the late 1800’s.
They are affordable and simple to make but are a bit time consuming yet can easily feed a hungry family. Let’s get started.
Make the dough — it’ll need to be refrigerated overnight. First mix the sourdough starter, egg yolks, salt and flour together until a dough forms. Place dough on a floured surface and knead until dough comes together. Pat out, wrap up and place in fridge overnight.
Now that the dough has rested overnight, we are ready to make perogies, but first, we need a filling! Today, we are opting for just plain old cheese perogies! Peel and chop potatoes. Cook until tender, drain and mash. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper and shredded cheese. Taste and adjust seasonings or cheese if necessary. Let cool.
Roll out the dough (not too thin, but not too thick either) and cut into rounds. We used a large plastic glass to cut out our rounds but you can use biscuit or cookie cutters.
Add a scoop of potato mixture in the centre.
Dab a little water around the edges and fold over. Squish the edges together well, so perogies do not break open when cooking.
Toss perogies in a little flour and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bring salted water to a boil. Cook until perogies float. In a hot skillet, melt butter and add perogies to the pan with green onions. Cook until browned on each side.
Serve with cooked bacon, additional green onions and sour cream or plain yogurt.
If wanting to freeze some perogies for a later date, leave on parchment paper lined baking sheet and place pan in the freezer. Freeze for several hours or overnight. Once frozen, remove from parchment paper and place in freezer bag or in a freezer-safe container.
To cook from frozen state, boil water and place frozen perogies directly into boiling water. Cook until perogies float. Add to pan of melted butter and green onions and cook until browned on both sides.
Sourdough Perogy Dough
1 cup sourdough starter – check out how to make sourdough starter here: https://www.ourcityhomestead.com/making-sourdough-starter/
3 cups whole grain flour – we use red fife
6 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
Combine everything in a bowl. Mix until mixture forms a ball. Knead so dough comes together. Cover and let sit 8 hours, or overnight. We refrigerated the dough.
The next day, cut dough in half, roll out. Cut into rounds. Fill with cooked potato mixture, wet edges slightly with water, fold over and press together to form perogy. Seal well so perogies do not break open when cooking. Do not roll dough too thin or overstretch when sealing or perogies will break when cooking.
This makes a large batch.
If you run out of potatoes for the amount of dough, you can cook more or stuff the dough with chocolate and marshmallow, pie filling or jam to make a desert perogy.
Potato Mixture for Perogies
8 to 10 large potatoes, peeled and chopped and boiled in salted water until tender. Drain and mash. To mashed potatoes, add:
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese
Stir well. Taste and adjust seasonings or cheese as needed. Let cool before filling perogy dough.
Instead of cheddar cheese, you can also add cooked bacon and onions or dried cottage cheese and dill.
Once perogies are filled, dust with flour and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Freeze on baking sheet. Once frozen, remove from sheet and place in a freezer-safe container or plastic bag.
To cook, place perogies in boiling salted water. Cook until perogies float. Remove perogies from water and place in a hot skillet with melted butter and onion. Cook until perogies are browned on both sides. Serve savory perogies with green onion, sour cream/yogurt and cooked bacon if you like.
Looks delicious!
Thank you! It sure is!