KARELIAN POTATO PASTIES

sister herb

Official TTI Chef
pasty dough:

500 ml fine rye flour
½ tsp salt
200 ml water
(1 - 2 tbsp turnip rape oil)

filling:

about 700 g potatoes, peeled
50 - 100 ml potatoes' cooking liquid
50 - 75 ml cream
2 eggs
lump of butter
pinch of salt

for brushing:

whole milk
lump of butter

Cook the potatoes in water until tender. Reserve the liquid. Puree the potatoes through a food mill and let cool a bit. Add the eggs and enough cooking liquid and cream to get a smooth mixture. The amount of liquid depends on the quality of the potatoes — the filling must not be too runny. Add a lump of butter and mix. Season with salt, cover and set aside to cool.

Prepare the pasty dough: mix the flour and salt, add the oil and water little at a time and mix to get a firm, non-sticky dough. Divide the dough in 15 - 20 equal-size pieces and roll them into small balls. With a tapered rolling pin, roll out the flattened balls one at a time into very thin disks, about 1 mm thick and 10 - 15 cm in diameter. (You could also try to use a pasta machine for rolling.) Cover the pie disks lightly with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.

Spread the potato filling on the centre of the pie disks, see figure 1. Raise the edges of the pie disks towards the centre, pinching the edges with your fingers (see figure 2) to make the pasty look like shown in figure 3.

1.
pirog1.gif
2.
pirog2.gif
3.
pirog3.gif


Place the pasties on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 255 - 300 °C for about 5 - 7 minutes or until brown specks start to appear. Meanwhile, heat about 150 ml whole milk in a saucepan, add a big lump of butter and let it melt. Dip the hot pasties one at a time into the hot milk-butter mixture and place them in a large bowl, preferably in one layer. Cover the bowl tightly with parchment paper and a towel, and let the pasties soften for about half an hour.

Serve the warm pasties spread with butter. The pasties may also be served with various savoury toppings, like cheese etc. Pasties can be reheated in oven or a toaster.

po_pasty.jpg
 
Top