Here we are ten days into the new year and deep into winter, so I’ve been making the comfort foods we all crave this time of year. Last week I made a big batch of beef stew , so much in fact I had lots of leftovers. If you’d like to see my easy beef stew recipe you can find it here. What should one do with left over beef stew? That depends on who you ask. If you ask my son’s dog she’ll direct you to her food dish. Since I’m going to make Piroshki or Russian meat pies, this is actually a good idea. I need to remove most of the broth so the dog gets her way!
Many cultures have their own version of the meat pie or handheld pies as I like to call them because you can put just about anything you want inside from sweet fruits to vegetables and meat. There are Empanadas. Samosas, Belyashi and Bierocks, just to name a few. Let’s not forget Mamaw’s Fried Pies, which you can find here. I am partial to the Piroshki because they can be made very simply using just a few ingredients. Traditionally they are fried but you can also bake them as I have done in the following recipe. If you don’t want to be bothered with making the dough you can also use pre-made buttermilk biscuits in those tubes from the grocery store. This way is much faster, just remember to roll them out to at least a 3 or 4 inch circle before placing the filling inside and crimping the edges.
In a traditional Russian meat pie you’ll only have beef, onions and salt and pepper. So when I make them using beef stew the flavor is going to be a little different even though I add extra onion. I’ll also remove the potatoes and some of the carrots and celery. A better option is to use leftover pot roast but to be honest I haven’t made a pot roast in years, I’ll have to remember that for another post. The dough for the Piroshki is a simple dinner roll recipe and I use a bread machine to make it much easier. If you don’t have a bread machine all you need are your hands, a bowl and and a warm place to let the dough rise. Let’s get cracking!
- The Dough
- 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water or milk or 50/50 mix
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups flour
- 1egg
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- In a small bowl add the sugar, salt, yeast and half of the water/ milk mixture and stir together. Let it sit for 15 minutes until the yeast starts to make bubbles.
- In a larger bowl mix together the flour, egg, melted butter and the rest of the milk/water. Add the yeast mixture and stir together to form a dough ball.
- On a floured surface place the dough ball and knead it for about five minutes. Oil the large bowl and return the kneaded dough ball to the large bowl.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and sit in a warm place to let the dough rise.
- The dough will double in size.
- You can also use plastic wrap or a plastic wrap and kitchen towel combo.
- After about an hour and a half punch the dough down and remove it from the bowl and knead again.
- Cut dough into 15 pieces and roll them into balls. Using a rolling pin make the dough balls into 3-5 inch circles. The size is up to you!
- Place your desired filling into the center and bring the corners together crimping all around the edges to seal in the ingredients.
- Place the seam side down on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with an egg wash to get the beautiful golden brown color.
- Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven 15 minutes or golden brown.
- Meat Filling
- 3-4 cups felt over beef stew meat and some vegetables with broth removed.
- Sauté 1 large onion
- Use a food processor or immersion blender or a knife to finely chop the meat, onions and vegetables together. The consistency should be like mashed potatoes. If mixture is to dry add a little broth. (don’t give it all to the dog just yet!)
- Once mixture is done follow instructions above.
- Serve warm with sour cream and enjoy!
I do hope you give these a try. Remember you can use canned biscuits and leftover anything to add in the center. I’ve had a lot of different things inside of Piroshki and was surprised that I really liked ones made with chicken salad. So you can see that it’s just up to your imagination. I might even try making some with leftover taco meat, I bet those would be amazing especially if you stuffed them with Mexican cheese. Drop me a line and let me know how your’s turned out. If you came up with something awesome please share it with the rest of us. Here’s looking forward to an amazing year ahead. Stay positive and keep cooking delicious wholesome foods! Until next time Boone Appétit!
