Potato and cheddar pierogi fried with butter and onions

Peel and cube about a kilo of Yukon gold potatoes; cover with water, add a big pinch of salt, bring to a boil and cook until easily mashed with a fork.

Drain, tip onto a cutting board and mash.

Grate in 100 g sharp cheddar, add about a tablespoon of butter and chop together with a bench scraper until evenly mixed and slightly dry; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Variation: mix chopped fresh chives into a third of the filling. Refrigerate the fillings until needed.

Variation: a no-egg dough of flour, water and salt is looser and cooks to a softer bite.

Mix 110 g milk with two eggs. In a large bowl combine 360 g all-purpose flour, 7 g salt and 10 g oil or butter; add the liquid and mix with a fork to a cohesive dough.

Rest the dough 10 minutes, then knead in the bowl 6 to 8 minutes until smooth and it passes the gluten window test.

Roll out on a floured counter to about an eighth of an inch (3 mm) and cut 3.5-inch (9 cm) circles; reroll the scraps.

Spoon filling onto each circle, press it into a half moon, fold the dough over, stretching as needed, and pinch the edges to seal; set on a floured baking sheet. Optionally crimp with a fork.

Bring a large pot of water with a couple of large pinches of salt to a boil; add the pierogi one by one, stir gently, cook until they float and then 2 minutes more; drain on a wire rack over a baking sheet.

Melt butter in a pan, add thinly sliced onions and a small pinch of salt and saute about 8 minutes until lightly browned; remove.

Fry the boiled pierogi in the pan with more butter if needed until browned and crisp at the edges.

Serve with sour cream, chopped chives and the browned onions.