Potatoes, Cheese, and Pea Pierogi Filling

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pierogis in waiting
Freshly filled pierogis!

Yesterday, we covered how to make basic pierogi dough, but we never really discussed how to make a filling that goes inside the pierogi. But, as it turns out, this filling is very tasty on its own; you could use it as a nice side dish for a holiday meal. It’s that good.

We had some of the filling left over; it made a bit more than we needed, so we just reheated it and ate it along with our dinner. In retrospect, it would have been better to save the extra filling for another day (we had made a lot of pierogis; it was our first time).

Like the pierogi dough, this recipe comes, vaguely, as we modified it a bit, from Anne Applebaum and Diane Crittenden’s book, From a Polish Country House Kitchen. According to them, this type of filling is traditional in Poland, and, here in the US, probably the most common filling you’ll find. A good place to start, as a dish normally becomes a tradition when it’s good.

Makes enough filling for 30 pierogies

Potatoes, Cheese, and Pea Pierogi Filling

Servings: 30 pierogi
Author: Shawn

Ingredients

  • 2 medium potatoes
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 Tbs unsalted butter
  • 6-8 ounces cheese grated
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  • Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, and boil until tender, about 20 minutes.
  • Melt butter in a small skillet and fry onions over medium-low until tender and slightly browned. Add peas and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Drain the potatoes, place them in a medium bowl along with the cheese, and mash with a fork.
  • Mix the peas and onions into the cheesy potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredient discussion:

We’ll peel these potatoes, so you don’t have to be as concerned about buying organically-grown potatoes. For the cheese, use pretty much any kind you think would be good. If it’s a soft cheese like ricotta — which is closer to traditional — use it as is. If it’s a harder cheese, grate it before using. We used a mix of a soft goat cheese and a Colby-jack blend.

Procedure in detail:

boiling potatoes
Boil the chunks of potato in water until they are tender.

Cook potatoes. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, and boil until tender, about 20 minutes.

adding peas
Once the onions are tender and a bit brown, add the peas and cook for about 2 minutes.

Prepare peas. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small skillet, and fry onions over medium-low until tender and slightly browned. Add peas and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside.

mashing potatoes
Mash the potatoes and cheese together. If the potatoes are hot, the cheese will melt right in.

Mash potatoes and cheese. Drain the potatoes and place them in a medium bowl along with the cheese. Mash with a fork, with the idea that you want some of the potato slightly chunky.

pierogi filling
Fold in the peas and onions and your pierogi filling is done!

Fold in peas. Mix the peas and onions into the cheesy potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

sealing pierogis
Fold the dough around the filling and seal it in.

Fill pierogis. That’s it. You should have a stiff, cheesy mashed potato and pea mixture that tastes good enough for a side dish, but really should be used as pierogi filling, where it’ll taste even better. Cook the pierogis as directed in yesterday’s post.

As we mentioned, this filling would also make a great side dish, and you can’t beat how easy it is. Boil up some potatoes, fry a bit of onion and cook peas. Grate cheese, and mix all together. What’s not to like? Five stars.

Worth the trouble?

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