Piroshki Fillings Recipes

Steps:

• Place 1/2 cup milk in a cup or small bowl. Stir in sugar and sprinkle yeast over the top. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Pour the remaining milk into a large bowl.
• Add the melted butter, egg, salt and 1 cup of flour to the large bowl with the milk. Stir in the yeast mixture. Mix in flour 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and doesn't stick to your hands. Cover the bowl loosely and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour. Dough should almost triple in size.
• While you wait for the dough to rise, melt the remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage and cook, stirring frequently, until cabbage has wilted. Mix in the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until cabbage is tender. Set this aside for the filling.
• Place the risen dough onto a floured surface and gently form into a long snake about 2 inches wide. Cut into 1 inch pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Flatten the balls by hand until they are 4 to 5 inches across. Place a spoonful of the cabbage filling in the center and fold in half to enclose. Pinch the edges together to seal in the filling.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line one or two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Place the pirozhki onto the baking sheet, leaving room between them for them to grow.
• Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Steps:

• For pastry: Cut butter into pieces.
• Combine flour, butter, and salt using a knife or pastry blender.
• Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons ice water.
• Form into ball as you would pie dough.
• May need to add remaining 2 tablespoons water.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Place pastry dough on floured board; roll out into rectangle.
• Fold over into thirds.
• Roll out again into rectangle.
• Continue rolling and folding five times.
• Rewrap in plastic; return to refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Grease baking sheet.
• Roll dough out to 1/8-inch thickness.
• Cut dough using 3 ½-inch round cutter.
• Place about 1 tablespoon of filling on each pastry circle.
• Fold dough over making half moons; press together edges together using ice water to seal.
• Place pies on baking sheet.
• Whisk together egg yolk and 2 tblsps water; brush pies with egg wash.
• Bake about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
• For Meat Filling: sauté onion in 2 tablespoons butter until soft.
• Add ground beef and sear until light gravy forms.
• Let cool.
• Mix in egg, dill, salt and pepper.
• For Potato Filling: Fry the onions in the butter until soft and golden-brown.
• Boil the potatoes in their jackets, then peel and mash them.
• Let cool slightly.
• Season with plenty of salt and pepper and mix in the onions and egg.
• For Mushroom Filling: In a pan or skillet, saute the mushrooms, onion, and shallots in the butter until the onion is translucent.
• Add the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
• Continue to cook, stirring until nearly all the moisture is evaporated.
• Cool mixture slightly and mix in cream cheese or mashed potato.
• I like to sprinkle poppy seeds over the egg washed pastries filled with the mushroom filling.
• Note: these pastries are very good made with phyllo pastry, too.

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in water and let stand 10 minutes. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in flour and add milk, egg, oil and yeast. Combine to make a soft dough. Knead about 10 minutes. Let rise one half hour to one hour.
• Brown chopped onion and garlic. In separate pan, brown ground beef. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and onion. Cool meat mixture and remove solidified fat.
• Pinch a golf-ball sized piece of dough, flatten with fingers or roll out to 1/8" thickness. Place 2 Tbsp filling in center and bring opposite edges of circle together. Pinch securely. (The traditional shape is a plump center with tapering ends.).
• Let piroshkis rise seam side down, 30 minutes. Heat oven to 350. Brush with egg and bake until golden brown (approx 20 min, it depends on the size). The piroshky may also be deep fried.
• Ed. Note: I also like to add about 1 cup cheese sauce powder (sometimes found in bulk food stores) to the meat mix. I find it gives a slightly cheesy taste. If I do that, I omit the salt.

Steps:

• In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly browned; drain. Stir in the onion and cook with the beef until translucent. Sprinkle in salt, pepper and dill weed to taste. Allow to cool before using.
• Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm water and place in a warm location until frothy, about 10 to 15 minutes. In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm the milk and gently whisk in the eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Remove from heat.
• Place half the flour in a large mixing bowl and gradually stir in the milk mixture. Then add the yeast solution alternately with the remaining flour, stirring after each addition. Mix well. Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the bowl. (Note: Start with the 4 cups of flour. You may need to add more, a little at a time, as you knead the dough). Cover the bowl with a clean cloth. Set in a warm location and allow to rise until doubled in volume.
• Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Pinch off pieces approximately the size of golf balls. Roll the pieces into disks about 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.
• Fill center of each disk with a heaping tablespoon of the cooled meat mixture. Fold disks over the mixture and firmly pinch edges to seal. Arrange on a flat surface and allow to sit approximately 10 minutes.
• In an large, heavy skillet or deep fryer, heat the oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Deep fry the piroshki in batches until golden brown on one side; gently turn and fry the other side. Remove and let drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Steps:

• Make the dough: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), combine the milk and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let stand 5 minutes until foamy. With the mixer on low speed, add 3 cups/385 grams of the flour, the egg, the butter and the salt, and mix until combined. Increase the speed to medium, and mix until the dough comes together in a smooth ball. The dough will be soft but should not stick to your fingers. If it does, add more flour by tablespoons. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• While the dough rises, make the filling: In a large (12-inch) high-sided skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, cabbage and a few generous pinches of salt, stir to coat with butter and cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is soft and tender but not browned, and all the liquid has cooked off, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool, then stir in the feta, dill, and more salt and pepper to taste.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Gently punch down the dough, transfer to a work surface and divide into 15 pieces, each about 1 1/2 ounces/45 grams. Roll the pieces into balls, then cover them loosely with a clean dish towel. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into a 4-inch/10-centimeter circle using a rolling pin. (If your dough is particularly sticky, you can dust your work surface with a bit of flour, but adding too much flour makes rolling the dough difficult, so be cautious.) Add 2 to 3 tablespoons filling to the center of each dough round. Pull the dough up and around the filling, pinching the dough firmly to enclose the filling. Place seam-side down, 2 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. (The piroshki can be made up to this point and frozen for up to 1 month. Freeze on the baking sheet, then transfer to a resealable freezer storage bag. Bake as directed below, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the total baking time.)
• Place the racks in the top and bottom third of the oven, and heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a sheet of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray, cover each pan of piroshki and let stand at room temperature until puffy, 30 minutes. Brush the tops of each with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky salt, if using, or kosher salt. Bake until browned, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans and switching oven racks halfway through baking. Transfer the piroshki from the sheet pan to a wire rack and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.