Pierogi Lasagna

Let's not talk about the Un-South-Beach-Friendliness of this recipe. OK?

I recently saw a recipe online somewhere for pierogi lasagna. I didn't keep the recipe, but I did think, "Wow, what a great idea. I've made pierogis from scratch and they are a pain. I bet this way would be easier." So, I gave it a try with GREAT results. Everyone loved them and they weren't terribly hard to do. (PS. I made these for my inlaws who are Slovak and they loved them. That means they are awesome.)

Here is a step-by-step for you to try if you'd like to make it.

You will need the following ingredients:

10-15 New Potatoes (I leave the skins on for added nutrition. LOL!)
1 package of Lasagna Noodles
2 onions (I prefer Vidalia, but didn't have them at this time)
1 stick of butter
6 oz (or more if you like more cheese) of 3 different cheeses of your choice.
(I prefer the one pictured below mixed with the already grated orange variety)
3 tbsp. milk or cream or sour cream
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.
These Cora lasagna noodles are awesome. Don't get the ones that cook in the oven because there isn't enough liquid in this recipe to cook those noodles. (I don't think. I hate those anyway)

Really good Irish cheddar. Yum!

Okay, now 1. Cut up your potatoes into approximate 1-inch cubes.

2. Put them in cold water and add about 2 tbsp of salt.

3. Heat over high heat until they start to boil and then turn them down to Med-high.

4. Test them for doneness after about 15 minutes. If they are soft, they are ready

to be mashed.

5. Remove the potatoes from the water using a colandar.

6. Put them in the bowl to your mixer and mix. Stop the mixer and add

a few tablespoons of milk or cream or sour cream. Try 2 and then after you mix

in the butter, try more for creaminess.

7. Add 1/2 stick of butter and mix until melted and the potatoes are to

your liking.

8. Salt & pepper to taste. Potatoes take a lot of salt. Add, mix and taste.

Next, fry the onions in butter. I start out with about 2 tbsp. of butter and slice the onions.

They take a while to brown and carmelize. Don't use high heat because they may burn. You don't want to blacken them. Just nicely carmelize. This can take 20 minutes with occasional stirring. So, put them on while starting the noodles. (next step)

Boil some water in your pasta pot and add the noodles according to the package directions.
While those are cooking, do the following.

1. Grate your cheese.

2. Butter your pan or pans. I tend to use two bread pans because we don't usually

eat that much lasagna at a time. I freeze one of them and cook the other for dinner.

The pierogi lasagna is very rich, so you will probably eat less of it than you would

regular lasagna. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Next, put two layers of the noodles in the bottom of the pan(s).

If you and your family like the onions, you can layer them right into the lasagna. I found that my boys like them, but not that many of them, so the second one I made, I didn't do this step.

Next, you layer the potatoes on the noodles and then about 1/3 of the cheese.

Repeat these steps until you layer all the way to the top of the pan. It took me 3 layers of

noodles. I also found that you should end with potatoes & cheese on the top rather than noodles and cheese. The edges of the noodles got really hard on my first one. So, ending with potatoes and cheese worked better. If potatoes brown, they are really good so it works better that way.

Now put it in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and you smell it cooking. YUM! To serve, melt some more butter for over the top and serve with the carmelized onions on the side so people can add as desired.

I forgot to take pictures of the finished, plated dish, but you can tell from this picture that it is yummy and melty cheesy!

I forgot to tell you that this recipe is part of a recipe blog party! If you want to see the other recipes go to the swap at Learning Together Hand In Hand!