Asparagus Brie Pierogies

February 22, 2013 Category Vegetarian 9 Comments Tags asparagus, brie, men, pierogies, potatoes, women

Apparently science has proven that women eat more when they’re with other women, but when you throw a man into the mix, they magically eat less. And to science, I say — puh-huh! Has anything ever been less true?

I actually did a little “science” myself and proved this theory wrong — repeatedly — at my favorite Mexican place back in Chicago. I went there plenty of times with a couple of girlfriends, and plenty of other times with just my husband, and let me tell you — my tortilla chip-eating stats easily doubled or tripled when I was there with my husband. I don’t know exactly what it was, but when he would start going to town on those complimentary tortilla chips, a bell would ring in my head and tell me Alert! Finite resources are being depleted! GO GO GO! And then I would match him, face shovel for face shovel, until both of us were on the brink of passing out from the food sweats. In contrast, when I am dining with other women, their more moderately-paced chip consumption lets me breathe a metal sigh of relief. Phew! I’m not gonna starve if I don’t hungry hungry hippos my way through this basket of free chips!

One thing I did hungry hungry hippos my way through recently were these asparagus brie pierogies. So good! Brie melted into potatoes is the new black. Or something.

ASPARAGUS BRIE PIEROGIES (adapted from Country Cleaver)

Dough:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

Filling:
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. brie cheese, rind removed and cubed
12 stalks of asparagus, trimmed
1 shallot, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. To make dough, whisk together all dough ingredients in stand mixer with dough hook attachment (or by hand, if you are stand mixer-challenged like me). Let dough sit for 30 minutes at room temperature while you prepare filling.
2. Preheat oven to 400. Trim asparagus ends and place stalks on non-stick pan. Drizzle asparagus lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder. Roast until fork-tender, about 8 minutes. When asparagus is cool enough to handle, roughly chop.
3. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat in nonstick skillet. Add shallot and cook until carmelized, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
4. Peel and cube potato. Place in medium pot of water with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn down to simmer. Cook until cubes are fork tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat, and place potato cubes in large mixing bowl, reserving water in pot.
5. While potatoes are still hot, mash with potato masher, adding reserved water (about 1/4 cup) to aid in mashing. Add garlic, asparagus, brie, and caramelized shallot to bowl with potatoes; mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. To assemble pierogies, roll out dough until about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out with a 3-inch round biscuit cutter (you can sub a wide-mouthed glass). Fill each round with approximately 1 heaping tablespoon of potato mixture. Fold over dough and seal, moistening the dough slightly with water to help it stay together. Crimp edges with tines of a fork. Repeat until all are filled.
7. Once ready to cook, preheat a non-stick skillet with 2-3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Place perogies into pan and allow to brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside to drain on paper towel and eat while warm. Alternatively, you can boil pierogies 3 at a time in a pot of lightly salted simmering water for about 4 minutes, or until they almost begin to float.

These were such a yummy little treat! We ate them with some spicy chicken sausage and they basically rocked.