Traditional Russian Pirozhki

Another Russian recipe that might take a little bit more time to make than a Russian salad, but pirozhki worth your time. You can use many different fillings, such as mashed potato, rice and eggs, mushrooms, different jams or fry cabbage. My personal favorites are mashed potato and fry cabbage. 

Use your imagination and preferences. 

Ingredients

Dough:

• 2 cups milk, warmed
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour

Filling: 

• 2 cups apple souse 
• 2 apples
• 1 orange zest
• 5-6 potatoes
• 1 cup onion
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions

1) 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.

2) 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.

3) While you wait for the dough to rise, prepare filling. Combine apple souse, cut apples and orange zest. Add some cinnamon. 

4) Boil potato and mash it. Fry onions and add it to potato. 

5) 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  filling in the center and fold in half to enclose. Pinch the edges together to seal in the filling.

6) 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.

7) Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

8) While pirozhki are hot grease it with melted butter. 

And finally pirozhki are ready! You can refrigerate it and heat it up later.