Pirozhki
Baked filled buns
Baked Russian yeast buns with cabbage and egg or potato and dill filling
Pirozhki, little oval pies of soft yeast dough, are what a Russian babushka has waiting on the kitchen table when the grandchildren arrive, and what used to be sold warm from steel carts at Moscow metro stations. They are eaten with a bowl of soup, packed for the train, or simply grabbed from the plate all afternoon. Fillings change with the season; the two most loved meatless ones are buttery cabbage with chopped egg and creamy mashed potato with fried onion and dill. Chef's tip: let the fillings cool completely before shaping; warm filling softens the dough and the buns tear and leak.
- Total time
- 85 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 ⅛ lb plain flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup whole milklukewarm
- 1 egg
- 1 ¾ oz buttermelted
For the cabbage filling
- 14 oz white cabbagefinely shredded
- 1 oz butter
- 2 hard-boiled eggschopped
- ½ tsp salt
For the potato filling
- 14 oz floury potatoespeeled and cut up
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- ⅓ oz fresh dillchopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
To glaze
- 1 eggbeaten with 1 tbsp milk
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (8)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Mix 1 ⅛ lb plain flour, ¼ oz fast-action dried yeast, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt. Add 1 cup whole milk, 1 egg and 1 ¾ oz butter and knead for 8 minutes into a soft, smooth dough. Cover and leave to rise for about 1 hour until doubled.
60 minStep 2: Cabbage filling: cook 14 oz white cabbage with 1 oz butter and ½ tsp salt in a covered frying pan over a medium-low heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until soft, sweet and lightly golden. Cool, then stir in 2 hard-boiled eggs.
18 minStep 3: Potato filling: boil 14 oz floury potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes until soft, drain and mash. Fry 1 onion in 2 tbsp sunflower oil over a medium heat for 8 minutes until golden. Mix into the mash with ⅓ oz fresh dill, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Cool.
15 minStep 4: Knock back the dough and divide into 16 balls. Flatten each to a 10 cm oval, put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the middle, fold over and pinch the edges very firmly into a seam.
Step 5: Lay them seam-side down on lined trays, a little apart, cover and prove 20 minutes until puffy. Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan).
20 minStep 6: Brush with 1 egg and bake for 18–22 minutes until shiny and deep golden. Cover with a clean tea towel as they cool so the crust stays soft.
20 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 28 g
- Fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pirozhki take?
- About 85 minutes in total: 60 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 16 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Reform tortaWalnut meringue chocolate cake
Belgrade pastry shops have sold reform torta since the early twentieth century, and it is still the cake Serbian families bring out for birthdays, weddings and the slava. Three thin layers of walnut meringue, crisp at the edge and chewy inside, are stacked with a dense chocolate butter cream made with egg yolks cooked over steam until thick. It is very rich, so cut thin slices and serve with strong coffee. The usual slip is beating the butter into a chocolate mixture that is still warm, which melts it and splits the cream; let it cool to room temperature first. Chef's tip: assemble the cake the day before; overnight in the fridge the meringue softens a little and the cake slices cleanly with a hot knife.
Ma'amoulDate and walnut butter pastries
Ma'amoul are delicate shortbread-like pastries made for Eid and Easter across the Middle East. A soft, rose-scented butter dough is wrapped around a filling of dates, walnuts, almonds and pistachios cooked with cinnamon, marked with a fork, baked pale and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 35; they keep well in a tin.