Best Piroshki Recipes

TRADITIONAL RUSSIAN PIROZHKI

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• While you wait for the dough to rise, melt the remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage and cook, stirring frequently, until cabbage has wilted. Mix in the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until cabbage is tender. Set this aside for the filling.
• 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 cabbage filling in the center and fold in half to enclose. Pinch the edges together to seal in the filling.
• 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.
• Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

TAYLOR'S PIROSHKI

Steps:

• In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly browned; drain. Stir in the onion and cook with the beef until translucent. Sprinkle in salt, pepper and dill weed to taste. Allow to cool before using.
• Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup of warm water and place in a warm location until frothy, about 10 to 15 minutes. In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm the milk and gently whisk in the eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Remove from heat.
• Place half the flour in a large mixing bowl and gradually stir in the milk mixture. Then add the yeast solution alternately with the remaining flour, stirring after each addition. Mix well. Knead until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the bowl. (Note: Start with the 4 cups of flour. You may need to add more, a little at a time, as you knead the dough). Cover the bowl with a clean cloth. Set in a warm location and allow to rise until doubled in volume.
• Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Pinch off pieces approximately the size of golf balls. Roll the pieces into disks about 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter.
• Fill center of each disk with a heaping tablespoon of the cooled meat mixture. Fold disks over the mixture and firmly pinch edges to seal. Arrange on a flat surface and allow to sit approximately 10 minutes.
• In an large, heavy skillet or deep fryer, heat the oil to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Deep fry the piroshki in batches until golden brown on one side; gently turn and fry the other side. Remove and let drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

GRANDMA'S POLISH PEROGIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour until well blended. Cover the bowl with a towel, and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Place potatoes into a pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, and mash with shredded cheese and cheese sauce while still hot. Season with onion salt, salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
• Separate the perogie dough into two balls. Roll out one piece at a time on a lightly floured surface until it is thin enough to work with, but not too thin so that it tears. Cut into circles using a cookie cutter, perogie cutter, or a glass. Brush a little water around the edges of the circles, and spoon some filling into the center. Fold the circles over into half-circles, and press to seal the edges. Place perogies on a cookie sheet, and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to freezer storage bags or containers.
• To cook perogies: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop perogies in one at a time. They are done when they float to the top. Do not boil too long, or they will be soggy! Remove with a slotted spoon.

PIEROGI DOUGH

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together lightly in bowl.
• Knead until smooth.
• Let rest, covered, 30 minutes.
• Using half of the dough at a time, roll out to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cut circles with biscuit cutter or floured glass.
• Fill with a golf-ball sized hunk of filling (described separately), pinch to seal.
• Boil 5-8 minutes, until floating.
• Fry in butter until crisp.

BEEF PIROZHKI

Steps:

• Combine 1 scant cup of warm milk and yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let sit until foamy and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, egg, butter, and almost all of the flour, holding back a small amount in case dough gets too dry.
• Knead in the mixer until dough is soft and supple. Scrape dough onto your work surface. Grease the bowl with a few drops of oil and place dough back in. Cover bowl and let dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• In the meantime, heat olive oil and butter in a pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, ground beef, and garlic. Season with kosher salt and black pepper. Cook beef, breaking apart with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned, about 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
• Stir dill into the beef mixture. Add chicken broth and stir, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let mixture cool for 10 minutes. Stir in Cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese. Let filling cool completely.
• Transfer dough to a work surface. Press out air bubbles. Pinch off a piece of dough and form into a ball; press into a disc. Dust with a minimal amount of flour and roll into a circle about 1/8-inch thick and 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Dip your finger in water and dampen the edges of the circle.
• Place dough circle in 1 hand and add a few tablespoons of the beef filling. Pinch edges together to seal. Place pirozhki on the table seam-side up and pinch off any excess dough; too much dough will make it hard to fry. Moisten the center of the seam with water. Fold the 2 ends inward and flip pirozhki over, seam-side down; press down lightly.
• Form the remaining pirozhki and let them rest until dough rises slightly, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry pirozhki in batches, seam-side down, until golden brown, about 90 seconds. Flip and fry until browned on the other side, about 90 seconds more. Drain on paper towels and cool for a few minutes.

CABBAGE PIROSHKI RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare one portion of the classic piroshki dough.

BAKED PIROSHKI (RUSSIAN STUFFED ROLLS)

Steps:

• In a bread machine: place ingredients in the machine following the directions for the dough setting. Dough should be soft, sticking slightly to the pan as it kneads. Add a little water or flour to adjust dough consistency during the first knead as necessary.
• In a stand mixer: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add warm milk and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over top of the milk. Let stand for 5-7 minutes until the yeast begins to foam. Add 2 c of flour, the egg, softened butter, and salt. Mix everything together. Continue adding the last cup of flour, until the dough starts to come together. Knead the dough with the mixer on low speed for 3-5 minutes. The finished dough should be soft and almost sticky, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If it is too sticky, add a little more flour and continue to knead.) Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover it with a damp tea towel. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, until well doubled.
• While the dough is rising, make the fillings.
• Heat butter in a large, non-stick sauté pan. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add cabbage, salt, dill, and pepper. Continue to saute until the cabbage has softened, 5-7 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. Let the filling cool to room temperature before filling the rolls.
• In a large, non-stick sauté pan, brown the beef and onions together with the dill, salt and pepper, 3-5 minutes. Once the beef is cooked through, remove the mixture from the heat and transfer it to a medium bowl. Mix in the chopped hard boiled eggs, if using. Let the filling cool to room temperature before filling the rolls.
• Once risen, remove the dough from the bread machine or bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a log and cut the log into 16 roughly even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then press it into a 3-4" circle.
• Fill the center of each circle of dough with a heaping tablespoon of filling. Gently pull the edges of the circle up and around the filling, pinching the edges to seal the filling inside. (Be sure to pinch the seam well, or else the filling will burst out during baking.
• Place filled piroshki, seam-side down on a greased baking sheet.** Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the rolls 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the beaten egg. Set them aside to rise until puffy and nearly doubled (30 minutes).
• When the rolls are nearly finished proofing, preheat the oven to 375F.
• Bake at 375F for 20-23 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

MEAT PIROSHKI (BELYASHI)

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat. Brown ground beef and turkey, breaking it up into small pieces with a spatula. Season meat with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/ tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
• When the meat is almost done, add diced onion and saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add shredded carrots and saute another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add 3 tbsp dill, mix well.
• Add mayo, stir well.
• Stir in 1/2 cup water to moisten the meat mix. Transfer meat mix to a bowl and let cool to warm or room temperature.
• The easiest way to do this is in a bread maker. If you have one, set it to the dough setting and add the ingredients in the following order: Oil, water, 2 cups flour, salt, 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour, yeast. A bread maker will do the following: mix, let dough rise, mix again and let the dough rise (It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours) and once it's done in the bread maker, its ready to go.
• You can also make this dough using a stand mixer with a dough hook on speed 2(mix all the ingredients together, let rise, mix again and then let it rise in a warm place (like the oven). (It should be 2 to 2 1/2 times in volume). While it's rising, work on the meat filling for piroshki - see below.
• Put the finished dough onto a well floured cutting board, dust the dough with flour and with well-floured hands, shape it into a large log.It will rise more as you make the piroshki.
• Cut off pieces one at a time about 3/4″ thick.
• Place the piece of dough over your well-floured hand (dough will be sticky) and shape it into a 3″ to 4″ circle using your hands. Do not put flour on the side where you are going to put the meat, otherwise the sides won't seal.
• Stir the meat mix to distribute the juices. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of meat filling in the center.Cover the meat with the sides of the dough (being careful not to let oils or juices seep out), and pinch the edges together to seal the dough. Flatten the pirojki slightly to make them a more uniform size.
• Heat oil in a large, deep, heavy-bottomed pan or cast iron dutch oven. There should be enough oil to cover the pirojki half-way up the side.
• Place them in the hot oil (about 330° F) and fry until deep golden brown on each side. Sometimes they puff up a lot on one side so you may end up with a third side that needs to be fried.
• Place on paper towels to cool and enjoy!

BEEF & ONION PIROSHKI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, garlic, salt and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; crumble beef; drain. Cool to room temperature., Stir the spinach, cheese, sour cream and dill into the beef mixture. On a lightly floured surface, roll a puff-pastry sheet into a 12-in. square. Cut into sixteen 3-in. squares. Repeat with remaining sheet., Spoon 1 tablespoon beef mixture onto the center of each square. Fold dough over filling, forming a triangle; press edges with a fork to seal. Transfer to greased baking sheets. Whisk egg and water; brush over tops. Bake at 400° until golden brown, 14-16 minutes.

FRIED MEAT PIROSHKI RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare 1 batch of our piroshki dough recipe.
• In a large bowl, add the ground pork, grated onion, minced garlic, salt, pepper, Lawry's seasoning, mayo, green onion, and dill. Mix until well combined.
• Generously flour working area and the dough onto surface. Divide the dough into 24 equar parts (see note).
• Roll out each of the parts into about a 3½" round circle. Divide the meat filling among the 24 pieces and place into the center of dough. Fold the dough in half and seal the edges by pinching dough together. Repeat with all of the piroshki. Press down on the pies so it's flat and even in size.
• In a large pot, cover the bottom with oil about 2 inches deep and heat oil to 330°F.
• Add the piroshki into the pot, careful not to overcrowd the pot. Fry 3 minutes per side, until golden and remove onto a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat with all the piroshki.
• Serve with sour cream.
• Enjoy!