Pierogi-strone Soup

Just when you think that a homemade minestrone couldn't get more delicious, I go and add hearty pierogies to it...

During my one year stint as a Pennsylvania resident, I was introduced to the delicious goodness that is called a pierogi.  Other than the well-known Primanti Bros sandwiches, pierogies are the single most culinary creation associated with the Steel City.

The city of Pittsburgh is known for pierogies with every kind of filling imaginable, but traditionally most contain a mashed potato filling combined with cheese or onions.  

Pierogies really do rule there.

If you have ever attended a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park, then you know that they have an entire relay race dedicated to those delicious Polish dumplings.  Yep.  Mascots dressed as various flavors of pierogies race around the bases each and every game.

There is no doubt about it- Pittsburgh loves their pierogies. ;)

Deep Dish Pierogi Pizza

Inspired by a favorite family dinner, this Deep Dish Pierogi Pizza is smothered in creamy homemade mashed potatoes, sweet caramelized onions, crispy bacon, and gooey cheese...

To say that my family and I love all things pierogies would be an understatement. We first became obsessed with them while living near Pittsburgh over 3 years ago. That city has some mad love for their pierogies.  

Though I have never made homemade pierogies myself (yet), the frozen variety usually make an appearance on our weekly meal plan at least twice a month. I usually give them a quick boil, and then immediately fry them in a little olive oil and butter in a hot skillet. Sometimes I will saute some fresh cabbage to serve with them, but our favorite way to eat them is with caramelized onions, a little crisp bacon, and a smattering of melted cheese. And a little sour cream on the side for good measure. ;)

I have had the idea of creating a homemade pierogi-inspired pizza mulling around in my head for over a year now. Why I hadn't made this little delicious daydream into a reality sooner is a mystery to me! I finally got the little push that I needed to make this recipe idea happen when I saw the 2015 Idaho Potato Commission Recipe Contest for this year's Food & Wine Conference. What better way to showcase Idaho potatoes than with this delicious deep dish pizza recipe? 

A thick, deep dish homemade crust is smothered in creamy homemade mashed potatoes, sweet caramelized onions, crispy bacon, and gooey cheese in this Deep Dish Pierogi Pizza...

10 Family Approved Dinner Recipes

These tried and true 10 Family Approved Dinner Recipes are meals that my family asks for time and time again...

I know some of you all have to wonder every once in a while if food bloggers actually end up making and serving the recipes that they share on their blogs often or just a few times for recent development and testing and then we post it and are done with it. Well, I am here to tell you all that the answer is BOTH. 

There are definitely recipes- delicious recipes- that I have shared on here that I have only made a handful of times. It isn't that myself and my family didn't like them or that we wouldn't want to eat them again, but for some reason or another those particular recipes just didn't become family favorites. 

But then there are recipes, like these 10 Family Approved Dinner Recipes I am sharing with you all today, that my family asks for over and over again and that appear on my weekly plan more than once a month. Not only are these dinner recipes tried and true, but I know these will be the meals that my children will remember years later and ask for when they come home to visit from college (and probably beyond that)... ;)