Apr. 7 - Smoked Sausage & Pierogies

I'm not sure how mainstream pierogies are...having both parents born and raised in western Pennsylvania, they were a common side dish in our house. In fact, I remember being in elementary school, hanging out with my mom before she left for class (she took classes at night to get her teaching certificate), and instead of having dinner, she'd just boil a few pierogies and eat those. The boy, however, never even heard of one before he met me. His family, though, is entirely concentrated in the central/southeastern PA region, so maybe it really is a geographic thing?

If you've never had a pierogie, you MUST! They are delicious semi-circular dumplings stuffed with a variety of different possible ingredients. The more traditional kinds have cheese and potato, although I've had some stuffed with broccoli, cheese and potato, and some with spinach and feta (yummm!). I admit, I only eat the frozen kind, although I think I'd love to give making them a shot - I know some people that make them often.

You can make them a bunch of different ways...boil them, deep-fry, bake...but my favorite way to eat them is pan-fried. When I make them, I usually slice up the pepper and onion length-wise, toss in a little EVOO and pan-fry over medium heat. I also add cut-up smoked sausage (I prefer Hilshire's light kielbasa, but Wegmans was out, so we ended up with plain smoked sausage; the Jennie-O brand is delish, too). It's a super quick and easy dinner to make, and always tastes great!