Clarks Summit man's Pagach recipe a Slovak tradition for Brunetti family

Mar. 19—As a child, Michael Brunetti remembers being his grandmother's sidekick.

The Dunmore native used to sit at the kitchen table while the late Anna Kolatis cooked, and it wasn't uncommon to hear her say, "This is going to be so good."

Brunetti feels the same whenever he makes the Lenten staple Pagach, a treat his grandmother regularly had waiting for their family on the kitchen counter. This time of year, Northeast Pennsylvania restaurants serve variations of the dish, also known as pierogi pizza.

The traditional Pagach recipe Brunetti shared with Local Flavor packs potatoes, onions and cheese between two layers of buttery crust, just like he remembers growing up.

"This is what we would come home to growing up in a Slovak household," he said on a recent day in his Clarks Summit home. "This was Pagach to me."

Brunetti knows pizza and dough. His parents, Pasquale and Ann, founded Brunetti's Pizza and Deli in Green Ridge, where he started working as a young adult. Brunetti planned to go into the pipefitters union, but after his father died in 1974, he decided to stay at the Sanderson Avenue restaurant.

Nobody knew how to make the pizza dough except his father, so Brunetti studied at the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kansas, and it snowballed from there.

Brunetti, his mother and his wife, Therese, operated the restaurant until deciding to close for good during the COVID-19 pandemic after 62 years in business.

"It was gut wrenching, but it was for the best," he said.

Brunetti still bakes in his spare time and loves to make Pagach for family and friends during Lent.

"It just brings back memories of growing up in that Slovak element," he said.

He offered a few tips for anyone who decides to try his Pagach recipe at home. Make sure to dissolve the yeast in warm water first since it takes a little while. Once it starts foaming or bubbling, it's good to go, he said.

Also, he said not to worry if your dough feels a bit sticky. Cover the dough with a cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise for two hours or so.

"Let it double in size," Brunetti said.

For the filling, cooks can use any mixture of cheeses they like. Brunetti said he prefers Yukon Gold potatoes because they're easy to cook with and have a good flavor.

It's also important to cut slits in the top layer of the dough for ventilation, otherwise it can blow up the oven. You can even get decorative and make a pattern, he said.

"When it comes out of the oven and it's still warm, I usually brush some melted butter on it," he added.

It's a pretty simple recipe, he said, but set aside enough time to do it right.

"Don't be in a hurry," Brunetti said. "You can't rush this one."

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bwilliams@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5107;

@BWilliamsTT on Twitter