Easy Russian Piroshki Food

BAKED PIROSHKI (RUSSIAN STUFFED ROLLS)

Steps:

• In a bread machine: place ingredients in the machine following the directions for the dough setting. Dough should be soft, sticking slightly to the pan as it kneads. Add a little water or flour to adjust dough consistency during the first knead as necessary.
• In a stand mixer: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add warm milk and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over top of the milk. Let stand for 5-7 minutes until the yeast begins to foam. Add 2 c of flour, the egg, softened butter, and salt. Mix everything together. Continue adding the last cup of flour, until the dough starts to come together. Knead the dough with the mixer on low speed for 3-5 minutes. The finished dough should be soft and almost sticky, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If it is too sticky, add a little more flour and continue to knead.) Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with a damp tea towel. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, until well doubled.
• While the dough is rising, make the fillings.
• Heat butter in a large, non-stick sauté pan. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add cabbage, salt, dill, and pepper. Continue to saute until the cabbage has softened, 5-7 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. Let the filling cool to room temperature before filling the rolls.
• In a large, non-stick sauté pan, brown the beef and onions together with the dill, salt and pepper, 3-5 minutes. Once the beef is cooked through, remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. Mix in the chopped hard boiled eggs, if using. Let the filling cool to room temperature before filling the rolls.
• Once risen, remove the dough from the bread machine or bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a log and cut the log into 16 roughly even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then press it into a 3-4" circle.
• Fill the center of each circle of dough with a heaping tablespoon of filling. Gently pull the edges of the circle up and around the filling, pinching the edges to seal the filling inside. (Be sure to pinch the seam well, or else the filling will burst out during baking.
• Place filled piroshki, seam-side down on a greased baking sheet.** Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the rolls 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the beaten egg. Set them aside to rise until puffy and nearly doubled (30 minutes).
• When the rolls are nearly finished proofing, preheat the oven to 375F.
• Bake at 375F for 20-23 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

RUSSIAN PIROSHKI (MEAT HAND PIES)

Steps:

• To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt.
• Add vegetable oil and water and mix until smooth. (If dough is too dry, add more water a little bit at a time until dough smooth and soft. Also, if the dough is too wet, add a little bit more flour.)
• Coat the dough with a little bit of vegetable oil and place it back in the bowl. Cover with damp kitchen towel and place it in a warm place to rise, for about 30-60 minutes. (I put it in a microwave with a glass of hot water. Don't turn on the microwave.)
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat.
• Add the meat, garlic and salt. Cook the meat, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until cooked through. Transfer into a large bowl and mix it with rice.
• Once the dough is doubled in size, take it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a smooth ball, 1-2 minutes. Lightly flatten the dough ball into a disk, and divide into 12 equal parts as you slice a pizza. Roll each piece into a smooth ball.
• To make the hand pies, take a piece of dough and flatten it with your hands. Put the filling in the center and fold the dough in half. Pinch the edges of the dough to seal, creating a half moon. Then gently flatten it between your palms, making sure the sealed crimps are on flat side. (If it's not clear, check out the photos above.)
• Once all the hand pies are formed, heat 1-inch oil in a large skillet, or dutch oven. (Tip: You don't need a thermometer to fry these savory hand pies. Simply drop the end of a wooden spoon into heated oil, and if it's bubbling up around the wood, that means the oil is ready for frying!)
• To cook the hand pies, drop 4 hand pies in the hot oil and cook until golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook until it's nice and golden. Remove into a bowl, lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Continue with the remaining batch.
• Serve piroshki warm or at room temperature.

RUSSIAN CHEESE PIROSHKI

Steps:

• Completely dissolve sour cream with a little bit of milk. You may use a whisk.
• Pour the gallon of milk and the dissolved sour cream into an oven safe pot.
• Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set the pot in a safe place where its not too cool.
• Very Important: Mark this day as day 1. You will cook the milk on day 3.
• On day 3: Heat oven to 325°F Remove plastic wrap.
• Bake in the same pot for 3 hours.
• Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes.
• Drain completely in cheese clothe. Squeeze water out if you have to.
• At this point you may refrigerate this cheese in a sealed container for latter use.
• Preheat oven for 200F for 5-10 minutes and than turn off.
• Meanwhile place frozen rolls on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap.
• Place in the warm oven. (If the oven is too hot, leave the door open for no more than 5 minutes).
• This is the quick defrosting process. Let the dough rise for about 2 hours.
• Microwave cream cheese for 45 seconds to soften.
• With a large spoon, mix together your prepared cheese, condensed milk, whipped cream, cream cheese, and vanilla.
• Take your biscuits out of the oven.
• Note: Do not uncover all of them at once or they will dry out!
• Very lightly flour your palms and fingers. Flatten a roll in your palms.
• Fill with a heaping Tbsp of filling and press shut around the edges using your fingers.
• Heat oil in a deep skillet on medium heat. The oil should rise about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
• Fry several of the piroshki on both sides.
• Cover between flippings.
• They cook about 2 minutes or less, but be careful not to burn them.
• You will need to watch the skillet the entire time now and may not leave.
• Place Piroshki in a strainer or on napkins to collect excess oil.
• They keep well in fridge for several days, But I assure you they will get eaten before then.

FRIED MEAT PIROSHKI RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare 1 batch of our piroshki dough recipe.
• In a large bowl, add the ground pork, grated onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper, Lawry's seasoning, mayo, green onion, and dill. Mix until well combined.
• Generously flour working area and the dough onto surface. Divide the dough into 24 equar parts (see note).
• Roll out each of the parts into about a 3½" round circle. Divide the meat filling among the 24 pieces and place into the center of dough. Fold the dough in half and seal the edges by pinching dough together. Repeat with all of the piroshki. Press down on the pies so it's flat and even in size.
• In a large pot, cover the bottom with oil about 2 inches deep and heat oil to 330°F.
• Add the piroshki into the pot, careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry 3 minutes per side, until golden and remove onto a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat with all the piroshki.
• Serve with sour cream.
• Enjoy!

FRIED PIROSHKI RECIPE (SAVORY BELYASHI)

Steps:

• To make the dough: combine the wet ingredients into a bowl of a stand mixer, followed by the dry ingredients. Knead the dough for 3 minutes. Let rise until doubled (30-45 minutes.)
• To make the filling: Saute the onion in 3 Tbsp of oil over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside. Boil the liver in a quart of water for 20 minutes. Drain and run through a meat grinder with the sauteed onion mixture (or chop in a food processor.) Stir into the mashed potatoes.
• To Shape Piroshki: transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form dough into a 34" long log and cut into 1-inch slices.
• Slightly flatten dough piece and fill with 1 Tbsp of filling. Fold and pinch the edges shut. Place onto a floured tray.
• Fry the Piroshki for 2-3 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. Drain on paper towels. Serve Warm!

15 BEST RUSSIAN FOODS (+ RECIPE COLLECTION)

Steps:

• Select your favorite recipe.
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• Prep a Russian dish in 30 minutes or less!

RUSSIAN PIROSHKI RECIPE FOR SAVOURY MINCED MEAT FILLED HAND PIES

Steps:

• To make the piroshki dough: in a big mixing bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt, then create a well in the centre of the flour into which you need to pour the water and vegetable oil and stir until combined.
• Sprinkle a little flour onto your kitchen workspace before transferring the piroshki dough there, then knead the dough for a few minutes. When the dough is smooth and stretchy, lightly oil a mixing bowl, drop the dough in, cover it with a clean cotton tea towel, and set it aside for around one hour.
• When the piroshki dough has doubled in size, punch it down, then remove the dough and knead it on your lightly-floured work space for a couple of minutes or until the dough is smooth. Return it to the bowl again and set it aside for another 30 minutes to prove.
• While the dough is resting, make the piroshki filling: soak the dried bean thread vermicelli noodles in a bowl of water that completely covers them and set aside.
• Heat a tablespoon of cooking oil in a big frying pan, skillet or wok over medium-high heat, then add the finely chopped onion, fry until soft, then add the finely chopped garlic cloves, and fry until the onion is near translucent.
• Add the minced pork and minced beef to the fry pan, using a stainless-steel whisk to break up lumps. Add another tablespoon of cooking oil if needed, along with salt, black pepper, paprika, and sugar, and fry until brown.
• Drain the bean thread noodles, add those to the minced mixture and combine well, tasting to ensure it is well-seasoned. If not, add more salt, black pepper, paprika, and/or sugar to suit your taste. Set aside to cool a little, then just before you're ready to make the piroshky, add the finely chopped fresh dill and combine.
• Clean down your kitchen work space, sprinkle lightly with flour, then drop the piroshki dough onto the surface and knead for a minute or so until the dough is smooth.
• Shape the piroshki dough into log of around 30cm in length, cut it into 16 portions, and cover the pieces with your tea towel. Fill a small dish with water.
• As best as you can, roll a piece of dough into a round, about 10-12cm in diameter. This dough is not as easy to shape as pelmeni or varenyki dough so don't be too concerned if it's not perfectly round.
• Scoop out a heaped tablespoon of the minced mixture, place it onto one half of the dough round, and bring the other half over to cover the filling. Dip a finger into the dish of water and run it down the rim of one side of the dough then press the edges together to seal the piroshki. This results in a smooth seam, which is how my baboushka liked her piroshki.
• Repeat until you have filled all of the dough pieces with the savoury mince mixture, keeping the finished piroshki on a flour-dusted tray, covered in a clean tea towel.
• Half-fill a deep small- to medium-sized frying pan with cooking oil and heat to medium-high heat. Using a Chinese spoon or large slotted spoon, transfer one of the piroshki from the tray to the pan, and gently slide it into the hot oil. Transfer another one or two piroshki, and fry them in batches of two or three, ensuring they don't touch.
• Fry the piroshki for a couple of minutes, then turn them over to fry the other side. Turn them again if necessary, until the pastry has puffed up and is a deep brown, then transfer them to a clean tray lined with a kitchen wipes or paper towels to soak up any excess oil.
• Repeat the process until you've made all the piroshki. Serve them warm with a dish of sour cream (smetana) sprinkled with fresh dill. If you're not ready to eat them yet keep the piroshki wrapped inside a tea towel in a basket. They're even more delicious once they've softened.

TRADITIONAL RUSSIAN PIROZHKI

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.

MEAT PIROSHKI (BELYASHI)

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Brown ground beef and turkey, breaking it up into small pieces with a spatula. Season meat with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/ tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
• When the meat is almost done, add diced onion and saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add shredded carrots and saute another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add 3 tbsp dill, mix well.
• Add mayo, stir well.
• Stir in 1/2 cup water to moisten the meat mix. Transfer meat mix to a bowl and let cool to warm or room temperature.
• The easiest way to do this is in a bread maker. If you have one, set it to the dough setting and add the ingredients in the following order: Oil, water, 2 cups flour, salt, 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour, yeast. A bread maker will do the following: mix, let dough rise, mix again and let the dough rise (It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours) and once it's done in the bread maker, its ready to go.
• You can also make this dough using a stand mixer with a dough hook on speed 2(mix all the ingredients together, let rise, mix again and then let it rise in a warm place (like the oven). (It should be 2 to 2 1/2 times in volume). While it's rising, work on the meat filling for piroshki - see below.
• Put the finished dough onto a well floured cutting board, dust the dough with flour and with well-floured hands, shape it into a large log.It will rise more as you make the piroshki.
• Cut off pieces one at a time about 3/4″ thick.
• Place the piece of dough over your well-floured hand (dough will be sticky) and shape it into a 3″ to 4″ circle using your hands. Do not put flour on the side where you are going to put the meat, otherwise the sides won't seal.
• Stir the meat mix to distribute the juices. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of meat filling in the center.Cover the meat with the sides of the dough (being careful not to let oils or juices seep out), and pinch the edges together to seal the dough. Flatten the pirojki slightly to make them a more uniform size.
• Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan or cast iron dutch oven. There should be enough oil to cover the pirojki half-way up the side.
• Place them in the hot oil (about 330° F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. Sometimes they puff up a lot on one side so you may end up with a third side that needs to be fried.
• Place on paper towels to cool and enjoy!

RUSSIAN PIROSHKI

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil; saute cabbage and onion 5 to 7 minutes or until cabbage is wilted. Place cabbage mixture in a bowl and set aside.
• In the same skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef 5 minutes or until browned, breaking up any clumps as it cooks; drain liquid. Add cabbage mixture back into skillet. Stir in dill, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; mix well.
• Gently pull apart each biscuit in half, making 16 flat circles. With your fingers, flatten each circle into a 3-inch round diameter. Place 1 tablespoon of meat mixture into center of each piece of dough. Fold dough in half over the meat, forming a half moon shape, and firmly pinch edges to seal.
• In a deep skillet over medium-high heat, heat remaining 1-1/2 cups oil until hot but not smoking. It should be about 350 degrees F. Place stuffed dough in oil and cook in batches 1 to 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined platter. Serve warm.

SAVORY PIROZHKI

Steps:

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly grease and set aside.
• Step 2 For the Cabbage Filling: Fill a stock pot with 8 cups of water, place over high heat and bring to a boil. When boiling, add the cabbage and turn off the heat. Allow to sit for about 8-10 minutes to soften. Drain in a colander and rinse well to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
• Step 3 Place a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and when hot, but not smoking, add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally and cook till starting to brown about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• Step 4 In a large mixing bowl add the drained softened cabbage, sautéed onions, hardboiled egg, dill, salt and pepper. Mix well to incorporate and set aside.
• Step 5 For the Beef Filling: Sauté the ground beef in 1 tablespoon oil till browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain the beef in colander and place the sauté pan back over the heat. Add the chopped onion and cook per the above instructions.
• Step 6 In a large mixing bowl add the cooked beef, sautéed onions, hardboiled eggs, dill, salt and pepper. Mix well to incorporate. Set aside.
• Step 7 For the Dough: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one biscuit making a 5-inch round circle. Place a generous scoop of the filling you made (either cabbage or ground beef) in the middle of the dough. Make sure you have used enough filling, but do not overstuff it.
• Step 8 Using your hands, carefully fold the dough over the filling, making a half circle. Pinch the edges together and pick up the Pirozhki. Working from one end to the other, firmly pinch the edges of the dough together creating a seal. Place on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Using the palm of your hand, lightly tap the Pirozhki to even out the filling. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Make sure to give the Pirozhki space on the baking sheet as they will puff up.
• Step 9 Using a pastry brush, lightly brush each Pirozhki with egg yolk.
• Step 10 Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, turning the baking sheet once mid-way through, till the Pirozhki are golden brown and firm to the touch.
• Step 11 Allow to cool slightly before serving.

EASY PIROSHKI

Steps:

• 1. Begin cooking ground beef in skillet. As soon as the beef has begun to firm up, add the onion and saute until beef is nicely browned (add a tablespoon or 2 of butter if beef is too dry). Remove from heat and set aside. Rest pan tilted at an angle to allow excess grease to pool.
• 2. Prepare a place to roll out the crescent roll dough by sprinkling a little flour on a large flat surface. Open the tube and carefully unroll one of the dough bundles. Flatten it on the floured surface and push the perforated areas together to make one large slab of dough. Roll dough with rolling pin to even out the surface. Dough should become somewhat wider as you do so. Cut dough into 8 or 10 evenly sized squares (I used a pizza cutter).
• 3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• 4. Pour off excess grease from meat mixture, then add seasoning salt, garlic powder, and sour cream. Mix well, taste and adjust seasonings. Using one half of mixture, place equal portions of filling on each square of dough; try to use up all this half of filling in this half of dough (eat whatever won't fit!). Then fold over one corner of each square to make triangle-shaped pockets, pressing the edges to seal (if you have trouble getting seal to form, take a corner of paper towel and dry the edges, then press together again). Place piroshki on a cookie sheet and repeat process with second roll of crescent dough and second half of filling.
• 5. Once all piroshki have been sealed, cut a small slit or poke holes with fork in top of each pocket. Mix egg yolk with 2 tbs water and brush wash onto tops of pastries. Bake in preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes until golden brown.
• 6. Variation: Another piroshki recipe I have uses mushrooms and and onion sauteed in butter as a filling--don't forget to include the sour cream and seasonings. Although...in virtually all of the several fillings given for this other recipe, dill is an ingredient, so you could substitute dill weed for the seasoning salt and add a bit of salt to compensate. Additionally, hard boiled egg is also included in nearly every filling variant; shredded cabbage is also a common ingredient (cooked first to soften, of course). Experiment; enjoy!
• 7. *(Continued from Personal Notes above--that area is never big enough for me!) Wikipedia has a thorough discussion of pierogi and a lesser entry for piroshki, specifying the two are distinct foods from each other (pierogi being more dumpling-like than piroshki). It indicates that "pirog" is a full sized pirozhok (singular of piroshki) and that "pirogi" is the plural of pirog. However, for purposes of cooking, it says pirogi/piroshki is a different dish from pierogi. Confused yet? Me, too. In the real world, no one makes that distinction so I have included both words (as well as several other alternative spellings) in the Key Words section. (To honor copyright law, I am using my own words to describe how I prepared this dish in my home kitchen.)

RUSSIAN DRESSING

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients until blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.