Russian comfort food: pirozhki

Summer is finally here for good, and it is time for light meals, cold drinks and picnics but there is something I just can’t miss in my blog: pirozhki. When you speak of Russian comfort food I am sure there is nothing more Russian than this divine and also guilty pastry pleasure.

Easter day we had my father-in-law over, and he brought some home-made cupcakes. The pan they were in stayed at our place for weeks, and I thought it was not polite to return it empty so I decided to fill it with some pirozhki.

To my foreign friends: pirozhki are small baked buns with different fillings. It is not healthy but hard to resist. My all time favorite one are pirozhki with cabbage, and this is what I made for my father-in-law.

They are not hard to make but time consuming especially due to yeast-dough work that’s why don’t attempt if you are short of time and also don’t start making it in the late afternoon - you will end up eating all night:)

Pirozhki w/cabbage

Ingredients: 

Dough

• 1 package dry yeast
• 200 ml milk
• 3.5 oz (100 g) butter
• 2 eggs
• 17.6 oz (500 g) flour
• salt

Filling

• 1 medium-sized cabbage head
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 onion bulb

Directions:

1. Stir yeast in warm milk (not hot and boiled), add about 3.5 oz (100 g) flour, mix well and keep in a warm place for some 15 min - it should double in size.

2. Stir in melted butter and mix well.

3. Stir in eggs and salt. Mix well.

4. Add the remaining flour and make the dough. Cover with a towel and keep in a warm place till it rises (app. 30 min)

5. Press the dough down and leave in warm place till it rises again. 

6. Make the filling (normally I start making it while dough is rising): 

• make hard boiled eggs
• chop cabbage and onion really fine
• in a large skillet heat up 1 tbs vegetable oil (I used a wok pan - worked well too)
• stir-fry onion (don’t let it frying and turn brown)
• add cabbage and cook over low heat until tender
• turn off the heat and let it cool down a little bit
• chop hard boiled eggs
• add eggs to the cabbage, salt (you may also want to add some black ground pepper) and mix well

7. Cut the dough into smaller pieces (use a knife if needed)

8. Make pirozhki: flat down dough pieces, place the filling in the middle and paste over.

9. Place pirozhki bottom up on a greased pan or baking paper, glaze with whipped egg yolk and let them rest for some 10-15 min till they rise (allow enough space between them to grow).

10. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and bake until golden yellow. 

11. Take a bite and enjoy!

I like pirozhki both hot and cold but there is nothing better than having a hot freshly baked pirozhok in the kitchen full of divine aroma from the oven... mmm... to me it is the taste of home. My father-in-law discovered that pirozhki also go great with some hot sauce - must be a California touch:)

If you have more dough than stuffing you can also use it for cute heart-shapen buns with sugar and cinnamon: