Polish Pierogies with Cabbage and Mushroom Sauce

1. Combine butter with 1/3 of the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add remaining water.

2. Sift flour into a bowl, add butter-water mixture, and mix. Knead mixture into a smooth dough for 5 minutes, put on a plate, and cover with an inverted bowl. Rest for 30 minutes.

3. Place quartered cabbage in a pot, cover with water, and boil until cabbage is soft, about 15 minutes. Drain cabbage and wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

4. Cut dry cabbage into thin slices and put in a bowl. Add onion and season with caraway, salt, and pepper. Cook in a non-stick pan until softened, about 10 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms and onions and cook for another 10 minutes. Mix cream and potato starch in a cup; add to mushrooms. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper.

5. Roll about 1/4 of the dough out on a floured surface about 1/16-inch thick, and cut rounds about 3 1/2-inches across using a cookie cutter or a glass. Add leftover dough to the next 1/4 dough and repeat process.

6. Place about 1 teaspoon of cabbage filling in the center of each dough round, fold over into a half-moon shape, and press and seal the edges with a fork. Set the filled pierogies aside under a towel to prevent drying.

7. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, and carefully drop about 15 pierogies at a time into the boiling water. Boil in simmering water until they float to the top, about 5 to 10 minutes. Cook remaining pierogies the same way in batches.

Cook's Notes:

You can make the pierogies ahead and freeze them after boiling them in Step 4. Then just fry the pierogies when you're ready to serve them.

To save time you can cook the cabbage the day before and then just reheat and squeeze dry. If the sauce is too thick, delude with water, if too thin, thicken with more potato starch.