Jalapeno and Cheddar Pierogi

My husband Faizal mentioned Costco used to sell frozen pierogi – specifically jalapeno cheddar pierogi – which he recalled being quite yummy. Took us a while to finally identify the brand, @peterandpatspierogies. They don’t seem to be sold anywhere in the States nowadays, so the next best thing was to try and make it myself. I looked at the ingredients – aside from cheddar and jalapeno, it also contained onions. I then scoured the internet for various pierogi recipes, and cobbled together something of my own.

First things first: I highly recommend making the filling a day or two in advance, and assembling the pierogi on a different day. I once attempted to make a batch of 80 pierogi from start to finish in a single day, and it literally took me the whole day. I was completely exhausted by the end of it and vowed to never again be so ambitious.

When making the filling, I cut the potatoes into 1 ½ -inch chunks, and salted the water well when boiling. The ratio I used was 1 tablespoon of salt for every half kilo of potatoes. I used a mix of mild and sharp cheddars, finely chopped a jalapeno pepper, and caramelized some onions in butter before adding them all into the potatoes. I love the potato masher attachment on my Braun hand blender – super smooth mash at a fraction of the time.

Next, to wrap these up into pierogi. I followed a standard recipe for the pierogi dough, but I subtituted butter/margarine with (beef) bacon fat I happened to to have on hand 😆 Pierogi dough is generally firmer than regular bread dough, and shouldn’t be too wet or sticky. I rolled the dough using my brand new KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, and cut 3-inch circles into it. Each pierogi had about a tablespoon of filling, and I used a cookie scoop for consistency. I tried a few pleating styles, including karipap-style, but simply pinching the edges together is good enough. Helen Rennie has an excellent tutorial on rolling out and pleating the pierogi dough.

The pierogi are boiled until they float, then browned either on the stovetop, or in my case, I chose air frying. I air-fried these at 205 degrees C (400 degrees f) for 10 minutes, and boy oh boy these were amazing. They turned out crispy yet still slightly chewy, and the filling was really flavorful. Faizal said this did remind him of the ones he had before, and even better when fried.

I froze the rest of the boiled pierogi. Whenever we wanted a quick snack, we simply pulled them straight from the freezer and into the air fryer. Do try these out; they are well worth the effort and you will not be disappointed.

Step by Step

Make the dough. Measure out the eggs, egg yolks and water to make 350 to 370 grams, depending on the humidity of your area.

In your stand mixer bowl, add all the liquid ingredients, flour, butter and salt.

Mix until no dry spots remain. A food processor can also be used.

Transfer to a clean work surface and knead by hand, about 8 minutes. Shape the dough into a tight ball.

Wrap with cling wrap and let rest, at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours at room temperature.

Next, boil the potatoes. In a large pot, add the potatoes and enough water to cover. Place the pot on the stove over high heat, covered, and bring to a boil.

Add 2 ½ tablespoons salt, and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until potatoes are tender and can easily be pierced with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes.

Drain the potatoes in a colander, and return to the pot over medium low heat. Cook the potatoes, stirring frequently, until all the excess moisture has evaporated. Take care not to let any residue at the bottom of the pot turn brown. Remove from heat.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, seasoning powder, salt and pepper. Mash until potatoes are smooth and the ingredients are incorporated.

Sautee the onions for the filling. In a skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons butter, until melted.

Add the onions and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start to turn transcluscent, about 10 minutes.

Remove the cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft and golden, 10 minutes.

Add the sauteed onions to the potatoes.

Add the jalapeno and cheddar, and stir until incorporated.

Adjust seasoning to taste. Let cool completely before assembling the pierogies. The filling can also be made ahead 1 or 2 days in advance.

Roll out the pierogi dough. Unwrap the dough and divide into 8 pieces. Work with one piece at a time, and keep the rest covered with cling wrap to prevent them from drying up.

Lightly dust the dough with flour. Flatten into an oval or rectangle about ½-inch thick, making sure the width is no wider than your pasta roller.

Starting from the lowest setting (mine is Setting 1), run the dough through your pasta roller.

Fold the short edge to the middle into thirds, like folding a letter.

Dust again with flour. Flatten the folded dough to about ½-inch thick, making sure to seal the edges.

Dust with flour, then feed the short end of the dough through the machine. Repeat this folding and rolling step two more times.

On the final folding step, make sure that the width of the rectangle is as wide as the cookie cutter you intend to use. I used a 3-inch cutter.

Increase the setting one step higher. Dust the dough and run it through the roller. Repeat this step, working your way up to Setting 4. After Setting 4, do not dust with any more flour. Increase to Setting 5, and run the dough through twice. If not using a pasta roller, after the folding step, roll the dough to 1/16-inch thickness.

On a work surface lightly dusted with rice flour, place your strip of dough. Cut into 3-inch circles.

Collect the dough scraps and bunch them together. Keep them covered in cling wrap, and let rest for at least 20 minutes. When re-rolling, skip the folding steps. Simply flatten the dough to about ½-inch thick, then work your way up to Setting 5.

Wrap the pierogis. Take a piece of the dough circle, and scoop a tablespoon of filling onto the center.

Press the filling into an almond shape.

Fold the dough in half over the filling, until the edges meet. Seal the edges, pushing out all the air inside.

Crimp the edges. You can even do a karipap pleat, but I just pinch the edges into this wavy pattern.

Arrange the pierogies on a large tray dusted with rice flour. Repeat for the remaining dough and filling.

Boil the pierogi. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Carefully drop the pierogi into the water in batches, stirring a few times to prevent them from sticking to the pot. Return to a boil and cook, until the pierogi start to float. Keep boiling for another minute, then remove from the pot.

Drain the pierogi on a wire rack.

To freeze your pierogi, arrange the drained boiled pierogi on a baking sheet dusted with rice flour, leaving some space in between. Freeze for about 1 hour.

After 1 hour, the pierogi should be completely dry and are quite firm. Place the frozen pierogi into a large ziplock bag, and freeze. These can be prepared straight from the freezer without needing to thaw.

To serve your pierogi, preheat your air fryer at 205 degrees C. Arrange your pierogi in the air fryer basket, spray with some oil and cook, flipping midway, 10 minutes.

Enjoy!