Here is my family recipe.
Dough
- 16 oz sour cream
- 2 cups all purpose flour
Mix sour dough and flour in a large bowl. sprinkle some flour on a work surface, hand spread the dough ball to a rough shape and then roll it till is is about 1/16 inch thick. Cut it in rounds - 3-4" in diameter (I use my egg cooking rings). As you pick up the rounds, sprinkle flour on both sides (they are sticky and tend to get stuck if not.)
Filling - Mashed Potatoes (cold) I use both regular butter gold potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Assembly - take the round in your hand, put about 1-2 teaspoons of mashed potatoes in the middle, fold it over, and pinch the edges together - set aside.
Cooking - Set up a large pot of water and bring to a boil. In parallel, take a large skillet and melt 1/2 cup butter and cook & stir 2 large onions, chopped till they are translucent (4-5 minutes). Remove the onions, drain and set aside.
take 4-6 pierogies at a time and put into the boiling water. AFTER they float to the top, start a timer and boil them for about 4 minutes. If you want to have these later, take the boiled pierogies out and freeze them. Otherwise, transfer from the boiling water into the skillet with the hot melted butter over a medium heat for 2 minutes per side to brown the sides. Place them in a buttered baking pan, sprinkle with onions as you build up layers and keep in the over to keep warm as you cook the rest. I will often have to add more butter (or olive oil) to the skillet as you cook the pierogies. If you have helpers, have one person filling and folding, as a set is assembled, transfer to the boiling water, then skillet while more are being made.
To serve, sprinkle with crispy bacon bits, diced green onions and sour cream.
Note: make sure your mashed potatoes are fairly firm, not watery.
If trying to do this as an orthodox tradition for Christmas eve, use water in place of the sour cream for the dough, no bacon, and use olive oil instead of butter (Traditional eastern orthodox Christmas eve involves no diary and no meat). But they are much better with the sour cream, butter and bacon - all the good things of life!