STUFFED PIEROGI

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Combine the flour and salt in a bowl, add the slightly beaten egg, and then stir in just enough water to make a ball of dough. The pastry will be stiff, but you should be able to roll it out, using a little muscle (if it's really unmanageable, add another splash of water). Lightly flour a board or countertop, and roll the dough to an even 1/8" to 1/16" in thickness.

Once that's done, cut out some circles, using a 3"-diameter biscuit cutter or perhaps the floured rim of a glass. (Actually, I prefer to slice the pastry—freehand—into small rectangles, using a sharp knife, since this practice allows me to make use of odd sections and all but eliminates the need for kneading and rerolling scraps.)

FANCIFUL FILLINGS

In the center of each pastry section, place a teaspoonful of stuffing. Just about anything that suits your family makes an appropriate filling. My personal favorite is mashed potatoes (don't add any liquid), into which I stir grated cheddar cheese, minced onion, and salt and pepper to taste. Another popular stuffing consists of 1 cup of farmer's or cottage cheese mixed with an egg, herbs, and salt and pepper.

If you'd prefer a more traditional flavor, however, try sauerkraut—drained and chopped—combined with minced onion, mushrooms, sour cream, and salt and pepper. Or, if you have lots of time, you can reconstitute dried black Japanese mushrooms and simmer them with minced onion. Then add some black bread crumbs to the mushrooms, and stir in chopped-up hard-boiled egg, sour cream, and seasonings to taste. (Needless to say, you can experiment with different meat, vegetable, and cheese combinations in order to find a few that please your resident gourmets.)

THE WRAP-UP

After you've placed the filling on the cutout pastry, fold the dough in half to form a semicircle (or a squarish little package if you've cut rectangles), then moisten and crimp the edges to seal them firmly.

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