Perogies Made Healthy

Now that the stampede is over, it’s time to eat healthier again. No more deep fried foods, well for a little while anyhow. However, that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to eat delicious comfort food. Especially since we’ve moved and now live much closer to Edelweiss Village. I find we’re always there grabbing some perogies as a quick snack. Who doesn’t love the doughy chewy goodness of perogies? But they’re not exacting the best thing to be eating all the time. So I set out to find a healthier alternative.  When I made these perogies with greek yogurt, my husband didn’t even notice that they didn’t contain any cheese.  I found that amazing, since perogies rely quite heavily on the cheddar cheese to provide the smooth creaminess of the filling within.  Plus, using the yogurt allowed me to up the amount of protein in the perogies and lower the amount of fat.

If you’re not willing to lose the cheesy flavor that the cheddar provided but wanted something a bit lighter, I recommend using ricotta cheese. Low in fat but still providing the tangy cheesy goodness, it’s a great substitution for this recipe. This recipe was a definite winner, especially when my husband asked me to make it again and maybe even a bit more so we can freeze them for a quick snack instead of running off to Edelweiss!

Nutrition Tidbit: Potatoes get a bad rap because they're starchy, but they provide many nutrients that our body needs and can fit in to a healthy diet. When eaten in moderation, they provide lots of vitamin B, C, antioxidants and a great source of potassium, preventing high blood pressure. Just make sure they're not the deep fried kind!

 

Dough Recipe:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk, warm
1 small potato
1 tsp salt

Dough Preparation:

Fill a large stock pot with water and place on stove top to boil. 

While waiting peel all the potatoes. Once the water boils, add in all the potatoes required for the full recipe.

Cook for roughly 15-20 mins or until the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork.

Remove the potatoes and put through ricer for fluffier results or you can mash the potatoes by hand.

Measure out a 1/2 cup of the potato for the dough and set the rest aside for the filling.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1/2 of potato, flour, salt together. Slowly add the warm milk while mixing the ingredients together.

The dough will be slightly sticky. Knead it for a couple minutes but don’t over work the dough or else it will be tough.

Cover and set aside to allow the dough to rest, meanwhile prep the filling.

Filling Recipe:

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp butter
3 medium sized potatoes
1 cup nonfat ricotta cheese or greek yogurt
Salt and pepper

Filling Preparation:

On medium heat, place a small pan and melt the butter. Add in the onions and cook until they become translucent. Roughly 10 mins.

Once the onions are cooked, set aside to cool.

When ready, add the onions to the already riced/mashed potatoes, stir in the nonfat ricotta cheese or greek yogurt (depending on what you’re using).

Add salt and pepper to taste. Filling is  now ready for assembling in to perogies.

 

  

 

Perogie Assembly:

Separate the dough in to 4 sections. Cover the dough that isn’t being used right away with a wet cloth to prevent them from drying out.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on the countertop and roll out the first ball of dough.  

Roll the dough to about 3mm thick. When ready, using a circular cookie cutter that’s roughly 4” in diameter, cut out rounds of dough.

Take each piece of the dough and add in a tablespoon of the filling.

Close the dough over the filling and start to pinch the dough from the sides to prevent the dough from forming a crescent shape.

Set the formed perogies on a plate and cover with a wet cloth, continue to form all the rest of the perogies.

All the scrap dough can be rolled out again.

When ready to cook, heat up a pot of water, cook each perogie until they rise to the top of the water. Once they rise, they’re ready and can be removed.

 You can sauté the perogies with a bit of olive oil or butter for some extra crunch or serve as is with sour cream, green onions and bacon.

 

Perogies also keep well in the freezer.  Place them in a freezer bag, remove all the extra air and they can stay for up to a month.
 
Enjoy!

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