Pierogi

Ingredients:

Dough
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
16 ounces ground beef, browned
16 ounces sauerkraut (drained but not rinsed)
sour cream, plus more for serving
salt & pepper, to taste
butter

Preparation:

DOUGH: In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well; knead dough for 10
Minutes. Dough will be sticky, use extra flour on surface to work the dough.
Roll to a thickness of about 1/16" - about as thick as a dime. Cut out circles in desired size (the diameter of a coffee mug is good).

FILLING: Use equal amounts of browned ground beef and sauerkraut - approximately 16 oz. each, just needs to be equal. Then use enough sour cream to hold mixture together. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
ASSEMBLE: Place about 1 Tbsp filling on one side of each circle of dough. Fold dough over filling and pinch or press edges together with tines of fork - Be careful not to puncture dough!

BOIL: In a very large stockpot, bring salted water to a rapid boil. Drop pierogi in - several at a time - and boil until they float to surface.
Cook time depends on size of pierogi but shouldn't be longer than 12 minutes but as little as 5 minutes.
Continue until all are cooked, then drain and cover with butter. Add more salt & pepper to taste and serve with sour cream, if desired.

More recipes for fillings:

Sauerkraut (Kapusta) Filling (makes 50-60 pierogi)

Ingredients:
4 lbs sauerkraut
2 lb yellow onions
2 Tbs. sugar
salt

Preparation:
Use canned or refrigerated sauerkraut. Drain and wash the sauerkraut to reduce the sharp acid flavor You will have to wash and taste in stages to determine how sour you want it. Be careful not to overwash it because you do want a bit of tartness. Finely chop the onions. Fry them in butter until they just become translucent, then add the sauerkraut and sugar. Either add more butter for frying, or add a combination of butter and olive oil. Fry to a golden brown color. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. Plenty of pepper is needed to give the kraut a little zing.

Potato Filling (makes 60-80 pierogi)

Ingredients:
5 lbs of potatoes (red or Idaho)
2 lbs of onions
salt
pepper

Preparation:
Finely chop the onions and fry in butter until golden brown. Peel potatoes and cut them into thirds; cook until tender. Once cooked, completely drain potatoes and mash with no liquid. Add fried onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Since this is a fairly bland filling, you will find you need a fair amount of salt and pepper.