Making the dough

Good pierogies start with good pasta dough. Not too moist, not too dry. Use a good flour.

Making dough the old-fashioned way

For the dough, use a ratio of:

1 c flour : 1 egg : 1 eggshell olive oil : 1 eggshell water : a little salt (let’s call it 1/4 tsp) Add additional water as needed to get the dough to the right consistency. For best result, fill a bowl with water and take out the eggs and let them sit out for a few hours so they are closer to room temperature.

Growing up in a pre-food processor world, we made the dough on a clean countertop. Sprinkle some flour around your dough area and measure out the flour. I suggest starting with 3 cups of flour. If you like, you can sift the flour and salt together over the counter. Now make a well in the center of the flour (think making a moat of flour). In the center of the well, add the eggs. Keep one of the halves of a cracked egg – a nice one. That is your measuring device for the liquids. I actually have no idea of the translation from eggshell to tablespoon. Add the olive oil and water to the well. If it’s a humid day, you might want to start with only two of each instead of three. If it’s dry, stick with the full 1:1 ratio.

Carefully, with a fork, whisk together the eggs, water, and oil in the center of the flour well. After the liquids are mixed, you slowly start scraping the inside of the flour well to bring the flour into the liquid mix. Keep slowly pulling in the flour into the liquid and mixing. Eventually, you will get to something about the consistency of pancake batter with a little bit left in the flour walls. At that point, get your hands dirty and start kneading the dough together. Knead until the dough is smooth, not too sticky, not too dry – dough should be as smooth as a baby’s bottom according to family wisdom.

When you are finished, lightly moisten a tea towel and keep the dough in it to stay moist while making the pierogi.

Note: if you are a total klutz, you might want to use a bowl to mix two cups of flour with the liquids and then knead in the final cup on the countertop. It can be a catastrophe if the flour wall is breached.

Making dough the easy way

Use a Cuisinart (or other) food processor. You can use the dough blade or the everyday metal blade. Put the salt and flour in the food processor bowl and pulse to mix. Use a small pitcher or measuring cup with a spout for the eggs, oil, and water. Start the food processor and slowly pour in the liquids, pausing a few seconds after each egg drops in so it can get throughly mixed. Let the food processor do its thing to knead the dough. It will usually take a minute or so for all the dough to get thoroughly kneaded. It’s done when it forms a nice ball of dough in the center. If there are scattered bits of dough on the walls, you may need to add more water. If the dough is sticky when you pull it out, sprinkle some flour on the countertop and knead in extra flour until the dough is smooth.

Note: The first batch of dough is always off somehow – too dry or too wet. Don’t worry, the second batch will be perfect.