Pyrizhky (пиріжки, baked filled hand pies)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two large baking trays
• •A rolling pin
• •A pastry brush
• •A wide pan for the cabbage or onions
• •A clean kitchen cloth

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the dough

   Stir the warm milk with the yeast and sugar and leave it until the surface looks creamy and a little foamy. Add the flour, salt, egg, and cooled butter, then mix into a soft dough. Knead until it stops tearing and starts to stretch under your hands, smooth but still tender.

   The milk should feel warm to your finger, not hot. If it bites, it will bully the yeast.
2. 2

   Let it rise

   Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover it, and leave it somewhere warm until it has doubled and looks airy. Press it gently with a floured finger; if the dent sighs back slowly, it's ready. If your kitchen is cold, give it time. Dough has no interest in your schedule.

3. 3

   Make potato filling

   For potato pyrizhky, boil the potatoes in salted water until they crush easily. Meanwhile, sweat the onions in sunflower oil until soft, golden at the edges, and sweet-smelling. Mash the potatoes, fold in the onions and their oil, season hard with salt and black pepper, then cool completely.

4. 4

   Make cabbage filling

   For cabbage pyrizhky, cook the onion and carrot in sunflower oil until soft, then add the cabbage with a good pinch of salt. Let it collapse slowly, stirring often, until it smells sweet rather than raw and any sharp wateriness has cooked away. Stir in tomato paste or fermented tomato mors, black pepper, and dill, then cool completely.

5. 5

   Make cherry filling

   For cherry pyrizhky, toss the pitted sour cherries with sugar, potato starch, and a pinch of salt just before shaping. If using jarred cherries, drain them well first and save the juice for drinking with sparkling water. The filling should glisten, not swim.

6. 6

   Shape the pies

   Turn the risen dough onto a floured surface and divide it into 18 pieces. Roll each into a small oval, spoon filling into the middle, then pinch the edges firmly shut from end to end. Don't overfill. A greedy pyrizhka tells on you in the oven.

7. 7

   Prove and glaze

   Set the pyrizhky seam-side down on lined baking trays, leaving room between them, then cover and let them puff until they feel light when you lift one. Brush with egg yolk and milk. The glaze should coat the tops, not drip down and glue them to the tray.

8. 8

   Bake until golden

   Bake at 190C until the tops are deep golden and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 20 to 25 minutes. Brush the hot pies lightly with sunflower oil so the crust softens and shines. Let them settle for ten minutes before eating; the filling inside keeps its own little weather.

Chef Tips

• •Choose one filling for a tidy afternoon, or make all three if you want enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian. Keep sweet cherry pyrizhky on a separate tray so nobody gets a surprise when they expected cabbage.
• •Cool the filling fully before shaping. This step doesn't forgive much: warm filling loosens the dough, weakens the seam, and makes the pies open in the oven.
• •Unrefined sunflower oil matters most at the finish, where you can taste it. It gives that green-gold smell, Ukraine in a bottle of oil.
• •Jarred sour cherries work beautifully out of season. In July we'd be drowning in them; in January we open a jar instead. That's not a substitute, that's the actual tradition.
• •If a seam opens, don't mourn it. Eat that one first, standing by the tray, and send the neat ones to the table.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can rise slowly overnight in the fridge after kneading. Let it sit at room temperature until soft and puffy before shaping.
• •Potato and cabbage fillings can be made a day ahead and chilled. Cherry filling is best mixed just before shaping so it doesn't throw too much juice.
• •Baked pyrizhky keep well for 2 days wrapped in a cloth, and they freeze well once cooled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)