Daring cooks' August Challenge reveal

The August 2010 Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n'Bites and Anula of Anula's Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

My area is very ethnic and we celebrate our diversity. You'll find an abundance of polish, Italian, Greek , Russian, Pa Dutch/German, and I've even experienced food & culture from friends who's heritage was Ukrainian, Asian , and Lithuanian. Needless to say, Pierogi are quite rampant in these parts and I have made them from scratch many times. I've never had a dessert pierogi though....and I was going to try this, but when I tried to come up with something that represents our locale, all I could think of was pizza - since Old Forge is right next to us and boasts the name of our nation's Pizza Capital, I went for a savory dish instead. I think I'll try the dessert ones next.

The filling came from watching Giada on food network make pizza pockets. I did not hunt down the recipe, instead I just "winged" it. The dough and filling recipe I used will be listed at the bottom.

Thanks again to all the wonderful people behind The Daring Kitchen for making these challenges possible. I am pleased that with each challenge, I do learn something new along the way!

First step- Have the flour and egg ready to make the dough and already have filling, just have to mix it. I chose to make a savory sausage filling mixed with spinach,onion, cream cheese, Parmesan, and of course garlic. The sausage is cooked and then mixed with the cheese. Once the filling is mixed I set it aside and mixed the dough.

Next was the rolling of the dough and filling the pirogi. I bought a dough press set at a yard sale for $1.00 - can't beat that... made it easier to cut the circles and fill the pockets, but I still pressed with the fork in the end so the edges weren't too thick.

Now they were sealed and ready! I cooked them in batches in boiling water... noting of course they were ready when they floated to the top! ;) After they were cooked I put them in a frying pan and sautéed them with fresh chopped basil and butter until they had a light golden crisp on the tops and bottom. The picture below shows the final product, served with a tomato gravy. I was thinking some nice chopped and seasoned tomatoes would make a tasty garnish as well....but that was an after thought- they were already eaten before I could try that!

These were enjoyed by hubby, and I would definitely make them again. It's easier then you think! Thanks again to the daring kitchen for this wonderful challenge. And thank you dear reader for stopping by and checking out my blog.♥

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The Recipe:

I would suggest preparing the filling first and then making the dough....

Dough:

2 to 2 1/2 cups flour

1tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup Luke warm water

I started with 2 cups and added more flour as needed depending on consistency of the dough. Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Crack the egg in there, add the salt , and a little Luke warm water at a time. Knead the dough adding more flour or water as needed. You want a nice soft dough. From into a ball. Cover the dough and let sit for 20 minutes.

Filling:

1lb bulk sweet or mild Italian sausage

1/2 medium to small onion-chopped

1 clove of garlic chopped fine

1 cup (8oz) spinach fresh or frozen-thawed and drained

4oz cream cheese

1/2 Parmesan cheese

slat and pepper to taste

In bowl add the cream cheese and Parmesan , set aside.

In frying pan, heat the sausage ,onion & garlic until cooked through and meat is no longer pink. Add the spinach and toss until heated through. Add to bowl- heat will melt the cheese- mix all well. Set aside so it cools and will be ready to use as filling.

(NOTE: I had to make to batches of the dough to use up all the filling and all remaining pierogi were frozen for another day!)

On floured surface, roll the dough out to aprox. 1/8 inch think. Cut with 2 inch round cookie cutter, dough press,or round glass. Spoon a portion of filling on the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half, pinch the edges together. Re roll any scraps of dough and repeat.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Drop pierogi in batches, not too many at once. Bring to a boil again and reduce heat slightly, wait for the pierogi to rise to the top and let simmer for about 5 minutes - they're finished!