Pittsburgh Potato-Cheddar Pierogi with Butter and Onions
Tender sour cream dough wrapped around smooth mashed russets with sharp cheddar and butter, boiled and tossed in a skillet of onions caramelized in butter, the way western Pennsylvania serves them.
In America the pierogi changed its filling. Wikipedia says the first documented American pierogi sale was at a Cleveland tavern in 1928, that after World War II fresh pierogi became a fundraising staple for ethnic churches, and that by the 1960s they were in frozen food aisles; the biggest American maker, Mrs. T's, is in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.
In Pittsburgh, pierogi run the bases. Wikipedia dates the Great Pierogi Race at Pittsburgh Pirates games to 1999, when the team's in-game entertainment coordinator was asked to create a mascot race, and says the costumed racers (Potato Pete, Cheese Chester, Sauerkraut Saul, Jalapeño Hannah, Oliver Onion and Bacon Burt) were modeled on a family dinner where homemade pierogi were served with butter and sautéed onion. This recipe, from America's Test Kitchen's Cook's Country, is that plate: potato and sharp cheddar in a rich sour cream dough, finished in a skillet of caramelized onions.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Tender sour cream dough wrapped around smooth mashed russets with sharp cheddar and butter, boiled and tossed in a skillet of onions caramelized in butter, the way western Pennsylvania serves them.
🇵🇱 The original
In Poland, pierogi ruskie are filled with potato and tangy twaróg farmer's cheese, boiled and topped with onions fried in butter. See the Pierogi Ruskie (Polish Potato and Twaróg Pierogi) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Butter and cheese beaten into hot potatoes
ATK says fully working the fat into the potatoes while they are hot is what makes the filling smooth instead of gluey or grainy.
Sour cream and an egg in the dough
The fat and egg make a soft, tender dough that still holds a seal, with bread flour standing in for the semolina in ATK's original source recipe.
Step by step
- Step 1
Cover the potatoes with water by 1 inch in a large saucepan, add 1 tbsp salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer vigorously over medium heat about 15 minutes, until very tender. Drain, and while hot beat them in a stand mixer with the paddle with the cheddar, butter, salt and pepper on medium speed about 1 minute, until smooth. Spread in an 8-inch square dish and chill until cold, about 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in the clean mixer bowl. Add the sour cream, egg and yolk and knead with the dough hook on medium-high speed 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover in a floured bowl and refrigerate until you are ready to shape.
- Step 3
Roll the dough on a lightly floured counter into an 18-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Cut 20 to 24 rounds with a 3-inch cutter. Put 1 tbsp cold filling in the center of each, fold into a half-moon and pinch the edges firmly to seal, keeping flour off the top so the edges stick. Reroll the scraps once or twice to make about 30.
- Step 4
Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, add the onion and 1/2 tsp salt and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until caramelized. Take it off the heat.
- Step 5
Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven over high heat and add 1 tbsp salt. Boil half the pierogi about 5 minutes, until tender and the filling is steaming hot, and move them to the skillet with a spider. Repeat.
- Step 6
Add 2 tbsp of the cooking water to the skillet and stir gently over medium-low heat until the onions are hot and cling to the pierogi. Serve.
Pittsburgh Potato-Cheddar Pierogi with Butter and Onions
Serves 5 · about 30 pierogi · 2 hr 45 min total
Filling
- 1 lb russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 1 tbsp salt, for the potato water
- 4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded (1 cup)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups (390 g) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
Topping
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, chopped fine
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus 1 tbsp for the pierogi water
Method
- Cover the potatoes with water by 1 inch in a large saucepan, add 1 tbsp salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Simmer vigorously over medium heat about 15 minutes, until very tender. Drain, and while hot beat them in a stand mixer with the paddle with the cheddar, butter, salt and pepper on medium speed about 1 minute, until smooth. Spread in an 8-inch square dish and chill until cold, about 30 minutes.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in the clean mixer bowl. Add the sour cream, egg and yolk and knead with the dough hook on medium-high speed 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover in a floured bowl and refrigerate until you are ready to shape.
- Roll the dough on a lightly floured counter into an 18-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Cut 20 to 24 rounds with a 3-inch cutter. Put 1 tbsp cold filling in the center of each, fold into a half-moon and pinch the edges firmly to seal, keeping flour off the top so the edges stick. Reroll the scraps once or twice to make about 30.
- Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, add the onion and 1/2 tsp salt and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until caramelized. Take it off the heat.
- Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven over high heat and add 1 tbsp salt. Boil half the pierogi about 5 minutes, until tender and the filling is steaming hot, and move them to the skillet with a spider. Repeat.
- Add 2 tbsp of the cooking water to the skillet and stir gently over medium-low heat until the onions are hot and cling to the pierogi. Serve.
Adapted from Katie Leaird, "Potato-Cheddar Pierogi", America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Country; published January 3, 2016), serves 4 to 6, about 30 pierogi. We follow it as written: 1 lb russets simmered about 15 minutes and beaten hot with 4 oz sharp cheddar and 2 tbsp butter, chilled 30 minutes; 2 1/2 cups bread flour, baking powder, 1 cup sour cream, an egg and a yolk kneaded 8 minutes on medium-high; an 18-inch round rolled 1/8 inch thick and cut with a 3-inch cutter; 1 tbsp filling each; onions caramelized in 4 tbsp butter over medium-low 15 to 20 minutes; pierogi boiled about 5 minutes and tossed with the onions and 2 tbsp cooking water. We use 5 servings. ATK's page does not mention Pittsburgh; the Pittsburgh story comes from Wikipedia (above). America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Freeze shaped pierogi on a baking sheet about 3 hours, then bag them for several weeks; boil them from frozen about 7 minutes.
- The filling keeps up to 24 hours in the refrigerator, and shaped pierogi up to 3 hours.
- ATK also makes a potato and sauerkraut version (Potato-Sauerkraut Pierogi).
- For a crisp finish, brown the boiled pierogi in the onion butter a few minutes per side before adding the cooking water.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Cheddar pierogi are the real thing. Disputed: Polish pierogi ruskie use twaróg (see Pierogi Ruskie); American pierogi often use cheddar, as ATK does.
- Pittsburgh serves them with butter and onions. Documented as Wikipedia's account of the family dinner behind the Great Pierogi Race.
- Pierogi were first sold in America in Cleveland in 1928. Documented as Wikipedia's account (the first documented sale, not necessarily the first).
- Church kitchens kept pierogi alive. Documented as Wikipedia's account of post-World War II church fundraisers.
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