Pasta Dough

Whether you're making pierogis, ravioli, or noodles, this is my base recipe. For pierogis, use my perfect mashed potato recipe. I will also include some other filling ideas and include recipes for those. The key to the best success is to make sure you wear a babushka and an apron while making these! Gotta bring the studdabubba attitude alive!

Tools you'll need:

Large bowl

Sharp knife

Wooden spoon

Measuring cups

Measuring Spoons

Liquid measuring glass

Dish towel

OPTIONAL: Pasta machine

Rolling pin

Cookie sheets

Wax/Parchment paper

Ziploc freezer bags

Ingredients:

4 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs olive oil

4 large eggs

6 + Tbs ice water (If you are making pierogis, save a couple cups of the boiled potato water and put ice cubs in it)

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mix, then knead the dough until it is firm, satiny, and not sticky. More water may be needed to comine all ingredients. Turn out onto a floured surface if you need to make it easier to knead. Kneading generally takes 10-15 minutes. Place in the bowl and let the dough rest for a few minutes.

It is worth noting to use the potato water for the dough when making pierogis. It gives the dough an even better texture. It is also worth noting that it may be worth halving the perfect mashed potato recipe for the pierogi filling. When making the potato filling, I add lots of shredded cheddar cheese and in some, I like to add minced/diced up pickled jalapenos. So good! Other filling options (separate recipes will be on the blog) would be sweet cheese and sauerkraut. Filling recipe for ravioli will be a separate blog post as well.

Once the dough has rested for a couple minutes, cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. If you have a pasta machine, use it to roll out the first chunk, leaving the others on the counter covered by a dish towel. Roll the dough until it is about 1/8" or a little more in thickness. Too thick and the pierogis will be tough, too thin and they will fall apart when you boil them. If you are like me and do not use a pasta machine, I take one of the chunks of dough and roll it into a log with my hands. I use a knife and cut off a small ball and use the rolling pin to roll out each pierogi individually. I generally make each pierogi the size of my palm when filled. Place a rolled ball of filling or a spoonful of filling to the center of the dough and fold over. The key here is when folding the dough over the filling, make sure to pinch the edges such that no air is inside the pocket. Pinch the sides well so they don't break on boiling. You may find that as you are going, more flour may need to be added to prevent sticking.

Place each pierogi on a cookie sheet lined with floured wax or parchment paper. When you fill the cookie sheet, line with another layer of wax/parchment paper and flour it. I usually do 2-3 layers of pierogis on one cookie sheet.

When filled, place in a freezer for a couple hours. When they are completely frozen, you can transfer them to ziploc freezer bags for storage in the freezer. Or boil right away.

This recipe should make between 60-80 medium pierogis or ravioli, or about 2 lbs of pasta noodles.

To cook, boil a big pot of salted water with some oil on the top and gently drop pierogis/raviolis in one by one. Using a large spoon, gently stir the pot to not break the pierogis or ravioli but also to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. They will float to the top when they are done. While the water is boiling, place 4+ sticks of unsalted butter, a spoonful or two of minced garlic, salt to taste, and a large onion sliced into a sauce pan to simmer. Serve the pierogis smothered in the butter sauce. I like a little sour cream with my pierogis sometimes.

You may also use this recipe to make plan old noodles! I have a Kitchen-aid attachment I use. place on a table lined with newspaper or towels, or use a pasta drying rack to let the noodles completely dry out before storage or boiling.