About this Recipe

We love the flavor of pierogi, but sometimes the preparation process does not fit into the schedule. This recipe makes two pans of lazy pierogi and is more like assembling a lasagna dish. When making this dish you need to put your head set into thinking pierogi and not lasagna so you won't be tempted to flavor this dish with Italian cheeses and seasonings. If you stick to the same flavors as if you were making pierogi, the dish comes out pretty close in flavor and will satisfy the pierogi craving.There are lazy potato recipes out there using mashed potatoes as the filler and they are great if you want to go that direction, but we wanted to have our potatoes cut into rounds for the aesthetic value and the texture achieved with the potato rounds. This dish is a hit always.

Grandmother’s TIPS for Lazy Pierogi Casserole Recipe

1. Use the right kind of potatoes, round red or white hold together best after boiling so you can cut the rounds. If we were making this with a mashed potato filler we would use russets. The potatoes must be cold from the refrigerator to be able to slice without too much breakage.

2. Plan ahead and cook the potatoes and lasagna noodles a day or two ahead and keep refrigerated until you are ready to assemble.

3. Make sure the lasagna noodles are cooked to soft but not mushy, so they are more like a pierogi dough. Cooking, straining, putting in a bowl covered with cold water and covering with a lid will keep the noodles soft, easy to separate and pliable. Remember to reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water for the topping at the end.

4. You can cut the recipe in half and make one pan.

After making a casserole, your pan will be quite a mess. Sometimes they’ll even get stains on them that’ll be really tricky to remove. There are some simple methods on how to remove stains from pots and pans though that use only natural kitchen cleaners. First, sprinkle some baking soda in the pan and add some dish soap and scrub with a scrubbing pad.

Then add in one part vinegar with four parts boiling water to the pan and allow it to soak for 20 minutes or until the water is cool to the touch. This will make it much easier to scrub off the burnt on food. You can also use some more baking soda after you dump out the water and vinegar to get the really stuck on food off. Use a scrubbing pad that has gentle scrubbing action, so you don’t ruin your pans or scratch them up too badly.

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Ingredients

(Print)

Makes: Two 9x13 pans - 16 servings - 8 from each pan

16 medium sized potatoes - round red, round white and new potatoes are good choices for this recipe

12 lasagna noodles

1/2 cup butter

2 medium size onions

500g ricotta cheese - 2 cups

500g cottage cheese - 2 cups

2 teaspoons salt, divided

2 cups grated cheese of your choice, we used a combination of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses

1 egg

1/4 cup reserved pasta water

1/4 cup sour cream

2 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley - Optional

Directions

1. This recipe makes two 9x13 pans. If you are making one pan, it is just as easy to make two. This is such a popular dish you hope for some leftovers. Each pan will make 8 nice servings. For those of you that love pierogi and you are looking for a shortcut this is a fun dish to try. We made it over two days, so it would take less time when we assembled the dish and for cooling time for the potatoes and lasagna noodles in the refrigerator.

2. Boil the potatoes. We suggest you choose a type of potato that you can boil, that will not fall apart. Red and round white potatoes make a great choice. Potatoes slice easiest once they are cold from the refrigerator.

3. Cook the lasagna noodles. Drain but reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water for later. To get a soft pasta dough texture like that of a pierogi dough, cook the lasagna noodles, then strain. Let sit, without rinsing until they are room temperature. Put the noodles into a dish and cover with cold water. Cover and refrigerate.

4. When you are ready to assemble the lazy pierogi, have ready two 9x13 baking dishes.

5. Peel the skins off the cold potatoes. If you have a mandoline slicer that slices potatoes, use that. If not, you can slices the potatoes into rounds with a sharp knife. You may have to half the potatoes first to slice them. Its okay if the potato rounds are not all perfect. Save the nicest ones for the top layer for aesthetic value.

6. Dice the onions into small pieces. If you have a mandoline, dice them on a small setting.

7. Heat the butter in a large skillet on the stove top and add the onions. Add 1 teaspoon of salt.Stir and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are a beautiful soft texture and golden brown color. Remember to stir occasionally and keep from over browning. Shut off when ready.

8. Divide the cooked onions into the bottoms of the two 9x13 baking dishes. Be sure to get all the butter from the frying pan. Spread out evenly with a rubber spatula.

9. Stir together the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, and grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese in a bowl. Add the salt and stir to mix it together evenly. Set aside.

10. Do a layer of potato on top of the onions. Use any of the broken potatoes pieces on the bottom row. Sprinkle very lightly with salt. Do a layer of lasagna noodles. We used kitchen scissors to cut the noodles so they would not be too long and put the cut pieces into the layers. Spoon the cheese mixture onto the noodle layer and spread it out evenly. Place the second layer of lasagna noodles next. Place the final layer of potato rounds on top. Place them in rows as this will be your top layer and the part that shows once cooked.

11. Break the egg into a bowl and stir to combine with the 1/4 cup reserved pasta water and 1/4 cup sour cream.Use a pastry brush to paint on top of the potato layer. Be sure to divide between the two pans.Sprinkle the chopped parsley on top. Cover with parchment paper and bake for 40 minutes at 425 degrees F. . You can eat right away or let cool, put a cover, refrigerate and reheat the next day at 425 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Like regular pierogi, served with sour cream will make it extra yummy.

ENJOY!

Return to this Lazy Pierogi recipe or check out more recipes at Grandmother's Kitchen

The legends of pierogies spans far and wide around this world. Many cultures around the world have their own particular version of this delicious recipe. Each version of a pierogi recipe is slightly different in the filling, the topping and even how the dough is made. Some say that pierogi came from China though Italy by Marco Polo and his explorers. Some say that they were brought to Poland by Saint Hyacinth who discovered them in the Ukraine.

Homemade pierogies area a one of our favorite family friendly meal ideas since they are filling, nutritious and generally loved by all. It is easy to fancy them up with some fried onion, baked sausage or one of Grandmother's Salad Recipes.

Potatoes are an super important ingredient in pierogies, and in a traditional pierogi recipe we like a nice starchy potato, like Russet, which mashes up well. Potatoes are surprisingly high in vitamin C, which makes them an excellent winter vegetable choice to boost the immune system and stay healthy over the winter months. When buying potatoes, it is also a good idea to choose organic when possible since they are a crop that is heavily sprayed with pesticides and have a thin skin. If you do have an organic potato, you can definitely wash them well and just leave the skins on when you mash them up. They will not look quite as photogenic but there are alot of nutrients and fiber in the skin of the potatoes.(1)

References:

(1) All About Potatoes (June 15, 2017), Retrieved from http://www.unlockfood.ca/en/Articles/Cooking-Food-Preparation/All-about-potatoes.aspx

Have you ever wondered what mold can actually do if you consume it on your food? The chances of mold making you really sick by only eating it once or twice is really rare, but if you were to eat moldy food all of the time, you may develop allergy symptoms and have a weakened immune system as a result. There are mycotoxins in mold that will cause these symptoms in sensitive people. So those with weakened immune systems and allergies already present. For your best health, you may want to consider throwing any food growing mold on it away in the garbage just so you’re not taking that risk.