How to make Russian dough

From a recent aprés-ski conversation in Aspen with a lady from Iowa who thought I looked like Edward Scissorhands:

Aspen might be the only place in America where if you say you’re Russian, people assume you rake in the dough.  Sadly, I had to disappoint the gregarious Iowa lady — the only kind of dough I’m good at making involves flour and yeast.  And that’s what this post is about.

This dough recipe happens to be the answer to the last photo quiz.  If you ever want to bake a Russian-style pie (пирог = pirog) — like these two I made with cabbage filling for the Russian “Old” New Year party 2 days ago — it is simple, quick, easy, and really, really tasty.

I’ve been using this recipe for over 10 years.  My aunt Lora gave it to me and it’s traveled with me on a worn-out piece of paper… Finally, I decided to record it in cyberspace.

Quick Russian Yeast Dough

Ingredients

• 2 cups (0.5 L) lukewarm milk
• ~2 lbs all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
• 4-5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 packet dry yeast

1. In a large bowl mix 1/3 of the flour, sugar, salt & yeast; add milk (make sure it’s not hot or it will kill the yeast) & eggs, stir. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes (or longer, up to an hour – no big difference). The yeast mixture will begin to bubble.
2. Mix in melted butter (again, make sure it’s not hot) and start adding the rest of the flour, little by little.
3. When the dough becomes too thick to stir with a spoon, get ready to sink your hands into it. Make sure they are clean.  You’ll need easy access to the flour and olive or vegetable oil. Knead, adding more flour, until the dough stops sticking to your fingers. This is where exact measurements stop but the trick is not to use more flour than necessary — otherwise the dough might come out too heavy. Here’s where the olive oil might come in handy — just a tiny bit to help prevent the dough ball from sticking to your hands.  To me, kneading this dough is one of the most enjoyable kitchen experiences. It should feel light, soft, and elastic.
4. Dust some flour on the bottom of the bowl and on top of the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for about an hour.
5. When the dough doubles in size, punch it down gently and let it rise again.  All done.
6. Roll it out, put the filling in, shape the pies, brush with the mixture of beaten egg with milk or water, and let the pies rest for 10-20 minutes before putting them into the oven.
7. Bake at 350F until the dough turns golden.

Filling options: blanched cabbage, hard-boiled eggs and fried onions (more details later); apple, meat, salmon (and fennel — my invention), spinach, sorrel, etc.

There are several options for pie shapes.

1. A big flat one: roll out 2 almost equal sheets of dough. Put the filling on the bottom one, cover with a smaller one, and pinch the ends together.
2. For the narrow ones I made here, roll out one sheet of dough, put the filling in the middle, pinch the sides together, fold the ends, and turn it over, so that the seam is at the bottom.
3. Little individual pies.

For large pies, make little holes with a fork or a knife for the steam to come out as it cooks.

If you end up with some leftover dough, it keeps really well in the fridge or even in the freezer.  I used my leftover dough to make some belyashi (pan fried individual pasty-like things with ground meat, poultry or fish) the following day.

But this is a slightly different technique that I’ll save for some other time.

salmon and fennel pie

mini pies

2 cabbage pies