Butternut Squash Perogies with Caramelized Red Onion & Apple

Directions

1. FILLING: Toss Butternut Squash Cubes & Apple Cubes with salt & pepper & olive oil, arrange in single layer on baking sheet (or two) and roast @ 375 till soft (35 min?) and the smaller bits have caramelized edges
2. Put Squash & Apples into food processor and process, add in butter, chopped sage leaves & maple cream (or whatever you use) adjust to taste (my butternut squash was super sweet, almost like a sweet potato, so I didn't need much.. Process until smooth, and chill before using, (can do 1 day ahead) I stuck it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
3. TOPPING: Season Sliced Red Onions, Thyme & Sliced Apples with salt & pepper and saute in a tiny bit of oil slowly in a heavy bottomed pan, really slowly, over low heat until it's hard to tell apples from onions and they get brown an sticky. If the get too sticky add a bit of water , wine or apple cider (can do ahead of time too)
4. DOUGH : Pour Flour in large bowl or on clean counter , whichever you have, make a well in the center and add salt and then eggs one at a time, swirling each time, and incorporating a little more flour in each time, Once all the eggs are in start kneading dough, you will feel the gluten develop in your hands as the dough becomes, more elastic & shiny, when it is smooth and shiny, make it into a ball and let sit @ 15 minutes to settle. You will have some flour left over, which is ok
5. ASSEMBLY: Once dough is settled you can either roll out small individual circles like my grandma did, starting with a pinch of dough the size of a walnut and rolling it out with either a wine bottle or a rolling pin, these you can stage on a sheet pan covered in paper towel or tea towel or...
6. You can use your pasta maker! Separate dough into 4 pieces, roll each one at 1 then fold over and roll at 1 again, repeat, then work your way up through to 5 or 6 or 7 depending on how thick you like the dough, 5 or 6 would be the most traditional.
7. Cut dough into Circles ( the mouth of a medium sized mason jar is perfect size) or Squares if you have a Chinese dumpling crimper. Add little under a tablespoon of filling to center, moisten edges and crimp or press together. Repeat many times, this a great kaffeklatcsh type activity to do with a friend, goes by quickly with gossip.
8. TO SERVE: Set up a pot of rapidly boiling salted water and a saute pan with butter and a few sage leaves
9. Set perogies carefully into the boiling water, when they rise up and start bobbing about, remove from water with slotted spoon and add to pan with butter, I like mine a bit crispy, like a perogie potsticker, so I let them sit on one side until they move around on their own with a shake of the pan, then I flip then for a few seconds to get the soft side buttery
10. Serve with caramelized apples & onions (add smoky bits of bacon if you want) on top, and a dollop of cream fraiche, greek yogurt, quark or sour cream. I topped these with a few baby arugula leaves tossed with bit of roasted butternut squash seed oil , I planned to add matchsticks of raw apple & chopped roasted hazelnuts , but I was too lazy to get it together by the time they were done, we got a late start.
11. Good as first course, lunch or veggie main course , also nice little side with roasted chicken thighs & Brussels sprouts (that's what I did with leftovers the next night).They freezer really well , just layer raw perogies, between sheets of wax paper on sheet pan covered tightly with cling film till totally frozen, then you can store them in bags, to cook plunge the frozen guys right in to boiling water ..
12. Secondary dish, used the trimmings from the dough to make sort of mafetti style random pasta noodles, thinned excess filling out with a bit of cream and a bit of pasta water...topped with a shaved of pecorino and fried sage leaves...pretty darn good.