Pierogi

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Peel off most of the outer garlic head wrappers and trim ¼ inch off the top of the garlic head. Place the garlic heads on a piece of aluminium foil, big enough to wrap it around the heads. Drizzle 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil over the exposed tops of the cloves and allow the olive oil to run down to the inner parts of the garlic head. Wrap the garlic heads in the aluminium foil and place it on the baking tray (trimmed top up). Bake for 25 minutes.

While your garlic is roasting boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water until cooked through and soft (for medium-sized potatoes this will take 20-25 minutes but check to make sure they are fork-tender). Drain very well then mash the potatoes. Remove 2 heaping tablespoons of the mashed potatoes (about 50g) and reserve both portions separately, for use later.

Heat half of the remaining oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Then fry the finely chopped onions until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Using a potato masher combine the roasted garlic cloves (squeezed out of the roasted garlic heads), crumbled feta cheese, onions and the bigger portion (roughly 400 g) of mashed potatoes into a smooth filling for the pierogi dough. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and make the pierogi dough following the steps listed below.

Pick a space where you’ll be working your dough and remove everything out of the way that would not appreciate being covered in flour. Make sure you have an empty water glass, 2 kitchen cloths and a dough roller ready to rock.

In a small pan slightly heat (you don’t want to boil it or even let it steam) milk and then add butter. Let the butter melt completely. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl combine the flour, buttery milk, smaller section (2 tablespoons) of mashed potatoes and salt until it becomes a ball of rough dough.

Dust the work surface with flour then knead the dough until nice, smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 3-4 pieces. Leave one piece on the counter and put the remaining ones under the kitchen cloth to keep them from drying.

Roll the piece of the pierogi dough out to 3mm thick. Using the water glass cut the circles in it.

On each circle spoon out 1 teaspoon of the filling. Now working one by one: fold the circular piece of the dough (with the filling in it) in half over the filling (so it creates a half-moon shape). Using your fingertips seal the edges by pressing them together.

When the first batch is done place the assembled pierogi on the flour dusted surface, avoiding stacking them on top of one another, and cover with the second kitchen cloth to protect them from drying. Continue with the remaining dough until the filling is exhausted.

Fill a large pan with water until half full, add a drizzle of oil and bring to boil. Boil your pierogi in batches to avoid crowding the pan until they rise up to the surface of the water. Let them float for 1 minute, then remove them into a colander to drain any excess water. Repeat the process until all of the pierogi are boiled.

Serve warm with melted butter, fried onions, fried mushrooms, fried bacon, spring onions or sprouts.