These delicate handmade, halfmoon shaped pierogies are wheat flour dumplings stuffed full of delicious local cheddar cheese and mashed potatoes by Pierogi House in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario. Irena (the matriarch behind Pierogi House) grew up in the mountainous region of southern Poland, and emigrated to Canada with her son Jacek in the 90s. In 2015 Jacek was so fed up with the crappy quality of cheap machine-made grocery store perogies that he opened a restaurant with his mother and voila! Pierogi House was born. Every day the family and their loyal crew wake up at 5am to hand make pierogi to Irena’s exacting quality standards. Growing up, there was nothing I loved more than going to Baba’s (Ukrainian for “grandma”) house for a plate of handmade pierogies smothered in caramelized onions and sour cream. My Baba would mix every batch of dough by hand, and add water and flour until it ‘felt right’ before rolling out the dough and cutting it into tiny squares to be hand filled and pinched closed with fluffy mashed potatoes and shredded cheddar cheese.

COOKING TIP: Perogies are equally delicious boiled, pan fried, deep fat fried or air fried. We love them boiled for dinner with ham or sausage and sides like sauerkraut, and pickled beets. To caramelize onions, dice up some white onions and sauté them in a mix of butter and oil until golden brown. Have any leftovers? Pan fry them for breakfast with an egg and dip in ketchup. That was my grandpas and is now my favourite brunch!