Piroške (Pirozhki)

Originally a Russian deep fried treat, pirozhki are quite a popular snack food in Central and East Europe, and even parts of Asia. The name derived from the Slavic word ‘pir’ which means a banquet or a festivity. Today, as all foods that travelled across borders and settling into regional cuisines, pirozhki appear in several different forms with a variety of fillings. But all recipes seem to have one thing in common; this baked or fried stuffed bun always turns out into a successful crowd pleaser. My grandmother used to make piroške filled with potato and bacon as a side to a thick creamy spinach soup. Then, my cousin and I would dunk piroške in the soup, instead of using our spoons, mopping our plates clean. Nowadays, baked piroške filled with cottage cheese are a favourite snack on kids play days. Beside happy smiles all around the table, they also ensure for a good 10 minutes of blessed peace and quiet while kids munch away, swinging their legs under their chairs.

Ingredients:

Yields 12-14 pieces

Dough:

500g plain flour

7g (1 tbsp) active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

250ml (1 cup) milk, warm

50g butter, melted

Filling:

250g cottage cheese

50g butter, melted

1 tsp salt

Topping:

100ml sour cream 

2 eggs

Method:

1. Put all the flour in a big mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add yeast into the well and pour in the warm milk. Mix the yeast and milk lightly and leave for 10-15 min for the yeast to activate.
2. Add rest of the dough ingredients into the flour and mix well. Place on a wide surface and knead into soft dough (the dough should be slightly greasy and elastic, so do not add any more flour). Return dough into the mixing bowl and leave to rise in a warm place, for about 20-30 minutes. Now, combine all ingredients for the filling.
3. When the dough is doubled in size, place again onto a wide surface and roll out into a 1 cm thick, very long rectangle, spread half a filling mixture and fold the rectangle over in half. Roll out again, pressing gently and spread the other half of the filling; fold over again. Pinch the edges to secure the filling inside. You should end up with approx. 15 cm wide and about 30-40 cm long rectangle.
4. Cut the dough in stripes (about 2 cm wide) and twist twice while holding the top edges together and place into a baking tray, lined with baking paper. This part can get a bit messy with cheese oozing out, so gently push the cheese back in without squashing the piroške down. Leave space between them as they will expand during baking. When all the piroške are lined in a tray leave them for another 20 minutes in a warm place to rise a bit.
5. Mix the ingredients for the topping and brush all the piroške generously with the mixture. Bake for about 30-40 minutes in a preheated oven on 180*C.
6. Serve warm, or cold. They will keep well in an airtight container for a couple of days.