Today I am super excited to have Heather from Cook It Up Paleo writing this delicious guest post!!! Heather at 17 years of age has already figured out the secrets to good health and great food! Heather is the blogger behind COOK IT UP PALEO. She has been blogging for 3-4 years and loves to create paleo recipes for her blog and educate her friends and family about real food. Her dream is to become a dietitian to help people learn to eat real food and heal themselves. Heather finished her first cookbook, Grain-Free Family Favorites, a few months ago. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+.

Take it away Heather….

There are some foods that hold a certain nostalgia. For me, pierogies is one of those foods. It all began when my aunt and uncle would serve us kids frozen pierogies, fried up in butter. Then my dad started making them for us. For me, pierogies became Dad’s treat, something that we would get when Mom was away with a friend. One of my favorite suppers that Dad made was pierogies and scrambled eggs.

Now that I have a diagnosis of celiac disease, I’ve been paleo for 3-4 years. Pierogies definitely haven’t been on the menu for a long time. A very long time. Until I was introduced to cassava flour. I have success making lasagna with the cassava flour, so I though perhaps I could get fancy and recreate my beloved potato-filled dumplings.

Recipe developing is hard work, and sometimes a recipe attempt completely flops. Sometimes it is half-successful. And sometimes I nail it on the first try. That’s what happened with this recipe. This recipe is somewhat time-consuming, but well worth it. My family ate these up nearly as soon as they were ready. Even my teenage brother and sister loved them, asking, “Are these paleo?” You betcha!

Grain-Free Pierogies

For the Filling:

2-1/2 cups chopped peeled white sweet potatoes (jersey yams)

1 garlic clove, peeled

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1-1/2 tablespoons coconut cream

Salt to taste (be generous)

For the Dough:

1 cup cassava flour

2 eggs, whisked

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water, if needed

For the Garlic Butter:

Butter or ghee for sauteeing

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ cup chopped parsley

1. Place the sweet potatoes and garlic in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until very tender. Drain and add the sweet potatoes to the bowl of a food processor.
2. Add the remaining filling ingredients and puree until smooth.
3. For the dough: combine the dough ingredients in a mixing bowl. Knead a few times and roll out 1/16 to 1/32 inch thick. Cut into 2 inch squares with a pizza cutter.
4. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle of each dough square. Fold over and press edges to seal.
5. Bring a large pot of water to a high simmer.
6. Boil the pierogies, a few at a time, for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.
7. Heat some butter or ghee in a large skillet. Add the pierogies and saute until they start to get crispy. Add the garlic, butter, and some salt to taste and saute until the garlic mellows out a bit.