Pierogi Pizza

On my list of "If you could only have 5 foods for the rest of your life what would they be", pierogies and pizza are 1 and 5 respectively. 

Believe it or not, until now, I have never had the two of them combined. I'd heard tales of pierogi pizza and it always sounded so amazing so I decided to finally give it a go. 

Best. Decision. Ever.

Hawaiian pizza (recipe coming soon) is still my number 1 but Pierogi pizza has come in strong at number 2. So much cheesy, bacony, pierogi goodness! 

 

Pierogi Pizza 

Crust

3/4 cup hot tap water

1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 - 3 cups flour

Toppings

2 cups mashed potatoes (leftovers work fine)

1 large onion, diced

1 lb bacon, chopped

1 cup mushrooms, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups aged (or extra aged) cheddar, shredded & divided 

Serve With

sour cream

chives

Directions

Prepare crust - In a bowl, whisk together hot water, yeast, and sugar and let sit to bloom for 5 minutes. 

Stir in oil and salt and add in flour slowly until stiff dough forms. Knead for 2 minutes - dough should be smooth and not sticky. Set in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let rise somewhere warm for an hour. 

Dough should double in size.

After dough has risen, press out into a pizza pan. 

Cover and let rest while you prepare your toppings. 

Heat the mashed potatoes in the microwave and mix in 1 cup of the shredded cheddar. Set aside and let cheese melt into the potatoes. Stir once or twice to combine.

Fry the onion and bacon until bacon is cooked. Add in mushrooms and cook until mushrooms soften. Add in the garlic and fry for 1 - 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 450. 

Drop the potatoes by the spoonful over the crust. Press gently to spread evenly. Sprinkle with a pinch more cheese. 

Spread the cooked bacon filling over the potatoes. Then sprinkle with the remainder of the cheese. 

Place in 450 oven and bake until heated through, crust is browned around the edges, and cheese is melty and bubbly. 

Let cool for about 5 minutes before slicing.

Top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives. 

Now enjoy the best pierogi pizza ever. 

FYI - If you find the addition of mushrooms odd, just leave them out. We always serve our pierogies with fried onions, mushrooms, and bacon but I know a lot of people only do onions and bacon. 

Not sure why I waited so long to try pierogi pizza but I definitely won't wait so long for the next one! 

Pierogi Lasagna

This is what I like to call "how can I take two separate, delicious, meals and combine them into one over the top ridiculous, heart attack inducing, oh-my-goodness I'm going to eat until I explode, new favorite dish".

Or... pierogies + lasagna = true love.

 I'm counting this as one of my better inventions. It's got everything that you could possibly need. Meat, cheese, pierogies, and, yes, even vegetables. 

I threw in the veggies so then I could at least claim some health benefit. 

True story - throw in a handful of vegetables and *voila* now it's healthy. 

You're welcome. 

Pierogi Lasagna

Ingredients

40 (approx) pierogies (frozen)

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1 small onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup coleslaw mix (or mixed shredded veggies)

1 jar spaghetti sauce

3 (approx) cups shredded cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. 

Place a generous scoop of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan. (Can also be made in a deep 9 X 9 pan). 

Place a layer of frozen pierogies in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a large frying pan, cook the beef, onions, and garlic until beef is no longer pink. Add in the veggies and continue to cook another 2 - 3 minutes. Stir in the spaghetti sauce. Remove from heat. 

Layer half of the meat sauce over the pierogies.

Sprinkle with half of the cheese.

Repeat the layers again - remaining pierogies, remaining meat sauce, remaining cheese.

Cover with tinfoil.

Now pop that bad boy into the oven until it's good and bubbly - about an hour to an hour and 20 minutes. **I cooked it for 50 minutes, covered, then another 15 minutes, uncovered.**

Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

So much meaty, cheesy, pierogi-y goodness.

A small piece goes a long way, by the way.

Serve it with a salad (totally makes it even healthier, FYI) and maybe a piece of garlic toast (because carbs, that's why).

Hubbies everywhere will thank you. 

Oh, and teenagers. 

Yes, the ladies too will be clamoring at your door to shake your hand if you serve this to them. 

Everyone needs to indulge once in a while.  

We're sharing over at Carole's Chatter and Wondermom Wannabe and Cookin and Craftin and Adventures of Mel and Dizzy Busy and Hungry ! Be sure to pop over and say hi! 

Pierogi Grilled Cheese

Apparently Sue and I missed National Grilled Cheese Day by a day. Who knew there was a National Grilled Cheese Day?

What food doesn't have its own day yet?

Is there a National Chocolate Cake Day? Because that is a day I do NOT want to miss celebrating.

Anyway... back to grilled cheese...

I was inspired to make this after seeing a pierogi inspired grilled cheese on BS' In The Kitchen. You should pop over and see their version - their photos look way more melty then mine do.

My first thought upon seeing this creation was - OMG that looks amazing!

Followed shortly thereafter with - OMG that has to be the most unhealthy thing in the history of ever!

Followed shortly thereafter with - *singing* I know what I am having for dinner tonight!

So...

yeah....

This isn't going to make any one's Top 10 list for healthy foods. In fact, I'm willing to wager a lot of money that it makes a lot of Top 10 lists for 'Food most likely to induce a heart attack".

That being said...

It's totally worth the risk!

If you need to do something to justify eating this then serve it with a green salad. I'm pretty sure the vegetables in the salad will cancel out the carbs and calories in the sandwich.

Pierogi Grilled Cheese

(Inspired by BS' In The Kitchen)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter, softened

1/2 clove garlic, minced

sprinkle garlic salt

1 soft bread bun, halved (I used Portuguese bread)

1/4 cup mashed potatoes, heated

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp cheddar cheese, shredded & divided

1/4 of a small onion, diced

1 green onion, diced

1 slice bacon, diced

1 Tbsp sour cream

Directions

In a small dish, combine butter and garlic and garlic salt. Stir until well combined. Spread on both halves of bun.

In the same dish the butter was mixed in, mash together the potatoes and 1/4 cup of the cheese until cheese is melted. (If necessary you can microwave for a few seconds to assist melting.)

In a pan large enough to hold the sandwich, fry together the onion, green onion, and bacon until bacon is cooked.

On one half of the bun, spread the potato "pierogi" filling.

Top with the fried onion and bacon.

Top with remaining 2 Tbsp cheese.

Top with other half of bun.

Using pan that the onion was fried in, placed back over low heat, place sandwich in pan. Put a bit of weight on top of the sandwich to press it down - like another frying pan.

Cook over low heat until cheese starts to melt and bread is browned on the bottom. Then flip sandwich over and cook another few minutes to brown up the other half of the bun.

Remove from heat. Slice and serve with a little sour cream.

You can see my bread got a little over-browned. I had the heat too high, trying to rush it. If the heat is too high the bread will burn and your insides won't have a chance to get all hot and melty.

Don't rush it!!

This is like a giant crispy pierogi.

For realz.

Who wouldn't want a giant crispy pierogi?

Please don't answer that.

It was a rhetorical question. Clearly EVERYONE wants a giant crispy pierogi.

If there is, perchance, someone out there who doesn't want a giant pierogi...well...then...I feel really sad for them.

It must be terrible being crazy.

*cough* Sue *cough* 

Hop over to Ms. enPlace and Six Sister's Stuff and The Chicken Chick and Feeding Big and Chef In Training and Carole's Chatter for some great links!

Lazy Pierogi Casserole

I figured since the Cabbage Roll Casserole went over so well I would share my Lazy Pierogi Casserole today. I was talking about it at work and it got me craving it.

It is another shortcut recipe that reminds me of the real thing but, of course, is not quite as good as the real thing.

I mean, really, nothing is as good as actual homemade pierogies.

NOTHING.

But, that being said, this is still pretty darn tasty. AND....it is another casserole you can make up ahead of time and refrigerate until time to cook it.

It is a little more fussy than the Cabbage Roll Casserole is to make but, I think you will agree, it is worth it.

Lazy Pierogi Casserole



Ingredients

15 lasagna noodles

2 cups cottage cheese

1 egg

1 Tbsp Oh! So Garlic (optional)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 large potatoes (enough to yield a generous 2 cups mashed)

2 cups aged cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup butter

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

5 strips bacon, coarsely chopped

1/8 tsp black pepper

sour cream, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray.

Cook noodles as directed on package. (I use oven ready noodles - all you have to do is soak them in hot tap water for 5 minutes and they are good to go!)

Line the bottom of the 9 X 13 pan with noodles. (Pic below)

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, egg, and Oh! So Garlic (optional). Spread over noodles. (Pic below)

Lay another layer of lasagna noodles on top of cottage cheese mixture. (Pic below)

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks. Boil in pot of water with the chopped garlic until tender. Drain and mash with 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese. (Pic below)

Cover with yet another layer of lasagna noodles. (Pic below)

Melt butter in frying pan. Over medium heat, saute onions and bacon together, stir in pepper. Stir and cook until onions are soft and bacon is cooked. Pour over noodles. (Pic below)

Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar. (Pic below)

Bake in 350 oven for about 30 minutes. Until cheese is melted and noodles are soft. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

If desired, serve with a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!

I was thinking you could even plan this the night before and serve it as a breakfast casserole. I mean, pierogies are for breakfast sometimes....at least....I have them for breakfast sometimes....therefore pierogi casserole should be for breakfast too.

I know it's not exactly in the "healthy choices" column as far as ingredients and calories go....but, hey....sometimes you just have to indulge a little.

As far as I am concerned - anything with "pierogi" in the title is worth indulging in!

Pierogies

Okay. I am very excited to write this blog.

Pierogies are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE food in the whole world. 

Sue and I have a rather mixed family heritage (Dutch - Irish for the most part) but I am 99% sure that Eastern European blood is running through our veins. Well, mine, anyway. Sue is partial to Chinese Cuisine. Hard to explain as we are twins but still possible on a molecular level.

Anyway....I loooooove pierogies. 

There are many different ways to prepare them in terms of fillings and dough.

Potato, cheese, bacon and onion filling is number one. How can you go wrong with those 4 ingredients? I've heard of dessert pierogies but, I'm not going to lie, that does not sound good. Hopefully one day I will get to try them so I will know for sure. I've tried sauerkraut filling and cottage cheese filling and a few others but nothing (so far) has beat good ol' potato, cheese, bacon, and onion.

I have done my best to write down the filling recipe in terms of measurements as it comes from my dad who never measured, just went by how it looked. The dough recipe is one I found online a long time ago and fiddled with until it worked best for me. Feel free to make changes to suit your own tastes!

Pierogies

Ingredients
Dough

3 to 4 cups flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

large pinch of salt

2/3 cup warm water

 

Filling

4 cups mashed potatoes

2 cups aged cheddar, shredded

1/2 large onion, finely chopped

10 strips bacon, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix together 3 cups flour, eggs, sour cream, salt, and warm water. Knead lightly, you may have to add more flour until dough loses stickiness.

Cover and let rest while you prepare filling.

Make sure mashed potatoes are hot. Mix in cheese. Fry onion and bacon in frying pan until cooked. Scrape into potato mixture, including drippings. Stir in salt and pepper. Let cool to room temp. (If you try to fill the dough while filling is too hot it will melt the dough.) You can put filling in the fridge to speed cooling process.

Divide dough into 4 sections. Roll out 1 section at a time until dough is very thin, but still thick enough to be handled without ripping. (Here is where my directions get sketchy - I always just go by feel. I'm guessing I roll one section to about 12 X 15 inches) Cut circles of dough (2" for small pierogies and 3-3 1/2" for large pierogies) with a cookie cutter or drinking glass. Place a small ball of filling (about a tablespoon) on each dough round and fold the dough over, forming a semi-circle. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork. (It helps to wet the edges with your finger dipped in water before sealing) You can also use a pierogi maker such as this one - pierogi maker  to get evenly sized ones. (I confess, I have one, how could I not get a kitchen gadget specifically designed for pierogies?)

See, aren't they pretty?

At this point you can either freeze them for later use or, even better, prepare and eat them now. Before I tell you the absolute best way in the entire world (not exaggerating) to prepare them, I just wanted to note that you can reroll the scraps of dough once. Any more than that the dough is too tough.

Okay, how to prepare the delicious pierogies you have just prepared:

Heat frying pan over medium heat. Slice onion and bacon and add to pan.(As many as you like!!)  When onions and bacon are half cooked, bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop pierogies into boiling water. (You prepare frozen pierogies the same way, they just take a tiny bit longer to boil) When pierogies float to top they are ready. Scoop them out using a slotted spoon and add them to the pan with the onion and bacon. Cook and stir gently until pierogies start to brown. Serve with sour cream.

It doesn't get much better than this. If you are wondering what to serve with it to make it a more complete meal....go with Ukranian sausage. Slice it, broil it til crispy on the outside.

Tell me that doesn't look sooooooo good! Hmmm... I know what I'm having for dinner tonight.

What's your favorite food?

Check out Kayla's Creations for some great links!

And don't forget about Ms. enPlace too!