I am not Polish. The first time I ever heard of a pierogi was on the food network. I have eaten the frozen pierogis that you buy already made in the freezer section of the supermarket. Wow! This was fantastic! I used beef boullion instead of chicken. I had no mushrooms, so I omitted them, and added cheese instead. This is really a flexible, great recipe. Do not hesitate to use this recipe as a formula, or outline, You are in for a fantastic, satisfying comfort food.

The "ready time" for this recipe is more like 3 hours. That's if you have little experience working with dough and are doing this by yourself. But it's totally worth it. I made these because it's a tradition in my husband's polish family to have perogi with Christmas dinner. Some tips for handling the dough. Make sure you use really cold water adding a little at a time as you really work the dough with your hands, turning and squeezing. I used just under a cup of water. I snaked it like another reviewer suggested. Kneed the dough like directed, then roll it out into a long snake about 2-2&1/2 inches thick. Then with a knife make a slight indent in the center of the snake, then 2 more on each side of the mark an equal distance from the ends and center and repeat. Just under half inch is about the right width to make 50 pierogi. Then cut a piece, lightly flour on each side, flour your rolling pin and roll out flipping the dough to create a circle. Mine were slightly smaller than 5 inches but that made for a firmer pierogi. Then continue following the recipe's directions. I ended up with half the filling left over so I plan on making another batch the day after Christmas just for us. I ate one of the pierogi's tonight (have to make sure they're good since I didn't follow the family recipe) and they're delicious! We always eat our perogi's with pan fried onions and bacon, and sour cream on the side.

This is great! I read the reviews before and wanted to clarify being that I am polish, that these reminded me the most of my busha making pierogi. The dough is ment to be a pasta dough which does make it more difficult to work with but I think most of us that make pierogi are looking for replicating something from our childhood, this comes so close! thank you silkdiver!

Awesome! My Stepdad's mom was Polish and I loved her dearly She was 101 when she passed and eating these makes me think of her & her wonderful kithchen - she made the best and this is the closest to her's. I pretty much think its common sense to break up the meat when its going to be stuffed in dough, but thats just me :) - I find that the dough works best for me when I form a long snake shape, slice rounds from it and then flatten further into nice circles, a touch of the rolling pin and wallah! Sometimes I add a bit of seasoning to the dough too - A recipe is a guide, not a rigid unbending law - after all everyone has different tastes, stoves and probably hubbys that are picky,picky, picky! (he loves these pierogi's though) thanks silkdiver :)

The filling was delicious though a bit heavy and it is important to really break up the meat. I did not like the dough at all. More like a pasta dough and difficult to roll out. I did not like having to boil them and then fry them in lots of butter to brown them. I found another recipe for a yeasted dough that is baked that worked much better (Pike Place Market cookbook pg.21)