WAITING for KEPLER . . . and Polish Pea-Bacon-Potato- Ricotta Pierogi

39 ½ weeks or 40 ½ weeks:  Nicole says, “Hurry up, buddy.”

Nicole asked me to make perogies using a recipe from

         http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/from-a-polish-country-house-kitchens-pierogi.html

As usual, I used Mom’s recipe for the dough because it’s the BEST and  I made a few changes to the Filling for:

Polish Bacon-Pea-Potato-Ricotta Pierogi

11 ounces potatoes

8 ounces bacon strips

1 large onion

1 cup frozen baby peas

15 ounces (425 g) ricotta

¾ tsp pepper

1 ½ tsp sea salt

1.      Boil the potatoes in salted water and rice or mash them in a large bowl.

2.     Finely chop the onion in a food processor.

3.     Cut the bacon into two inch pieces and fry until well-browned but not totally crisp.  (If it gets too hard, these bits will poke into the dough.)

4.     Pour out the bacon fat but return two tablespoons to the pan.  Add the onions and sauté until tender over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

5.     Chop the bacon into tiny pieces.   (If the food processor will do it, use it.)

6.     Put peas into boiling water and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.  Drain and mash or chop in the food processor.  (If you leave them whole, they will poke through the dough.)

7.     Add the onions, peas, bacon, ricotta, salt, and pepper to the potatoes and mash together.  (Do not use the food processor or you’ll have glue.)  

Now for making the dough using my mother’s recipe and following her method for cooking the perogies:    

http://eleanorstadnyk.blogspot.com/2012/06/perogiesvarenikipyrohi.html

And if you want to serve these Polish pierogi with Polish style sautéed onions use this recipe:

http://eleanorstadnyk.blogspot.com/2012/11/sauteed-onions-for-perogies.html

But they will be delicious if you simply boil them and serve them with sour cream.