Best of both worlds
Italian and Polish cuisine come together in these hybrid perogies
This edition of Food Dude features my new friend, Robin White, and she's presenting a fusion recipe that's gone viral throughout her social circle!
Food Dude: Hello, Robin. Thanks for offering to join us.
Robin White: Thank you very much for having me.
FD: Robin, I was honestly a bit skeptical about this one. I adore fusion foods and if we're being honest, so do most people around my age ... but fusing Italian cuisine and Polish? How did you manage it?
RW: My grandparents managed it first, on my mom's side. My grandfather was Polish and my grandmother was Italian. They met here in Canada not long after the war, both fleeing some kind of persecution they wouldn't tell me about, but history helped paint that unfortunate picture.
FD: That's Canada for you; if you're getting persecuted in a far-off land, this is the place to go. Back to the food though: why?
RW: (laughs) Honestly, I opened up my grandmother's fridge one day and had a huge case of the munchies. I saw some leftover perogies and some Bolognese sauce right next to it and my stoned mind made the connection pretty easily. After all, one is a starch and the other a sauce for flavouring a starch so ... it just worked.
FD: So, you got a little herbally-inebriated, got hungry, got lazy and then blended together the first two things you saw in the fridge? Come on ...
RW: Well, when you put it that way, it sounds bad, but the results are really good.
FD: I'll take your word for it, but I must admit, the concept has a lot of potential. I've eaten udon noodles in Toronto that were dripping with melted cheese and the place was always packed. Fusion foods can be surprisingly delicious. I can't see this fusion recipe being a miss, as you said, it conceptually works. Would you describe the taste?
RW: That depends on the method. I've converted my whole family, as well as the majority of my friends, to this recipe and they've all made a few changes. Loretta likes to fry her perogies first and then add the sauce and it's admittedly my favourite way to eat them now. The slight crunch and firm texture go well with the soft tang of the sauce and she stuffs her own perogies with spinach and Parmesan cheese. Personally, I like soft textures best and so my previous method was to boil a beef perogy like dumplings and then caress it with a ladle full of Bolognese sauce and some melted cheeses on top.
FD: Is it a hard recipe to make?
RW: It's moderate. Assembling the perogy is the most time consuming part so nowadays, I just go to the supermaket and cheat by buying a frozen bag of them to use ... just don't tell my grandparents. Despite what they claim, I find little difference in store bought perogies as opposed to homemade perogy.
FD: Something tells me your secret will come out once this recipe hits but other than that, my lips are sealed.
Robin's Hybrid Perogies
1 bag of frozen perogies (any flavour)
1 lb lean ground Italian sausage 1 large red onion, small dice 1/4 cup cream cheese
2 tbsp minced garlic
6 tomatoes
3 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 cups shredded cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
In a large pot, add cleaned and cored tomatoes, sugar and salt. On medium-high heat, render down the tomatoes without stirring. After 10 minutes, carefully remove loosened skin from the tomatoes and proceed to crush and stir them until it forms a fine paste.
Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for five minutes before adding cream cheese, ground sausage, minced garlic, Italian seasoning and diced onion.
Let simmer for 15 minutes. While it simmers, in a large pot, boil your perogies for roughly 15 minutes or until the perogies become soft yet firm.
(Optional: fry with olive oil and onions afterwards if you'd like a crisp texture.)
Plate the perogies and add an ample amount of sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Serves four.