All Easy Recipes. Cook all that you can cook. Small Pastries Filled With Meat
(Pirozhki)
 
What You Need:            (To Make: about 40)
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PASTRY
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 16 tablespoons (two ¼ - pound sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch bits and chilled
  • 8 tablespoons chilled lard, cut into ¼ - inch bits
  • 8 to 12 tablespoons ice water

    FILLING
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cups finely chopped onions
  • 1½ pounds lean ground beef
  • 3 hard-cooked eggs, finely chopped
  • 6 tablespoons finely cut fresh dill leaves
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

    • How To Cook:
    PASTRY:
    1. Combine the flour, salt, butter and lard in a deep bowl. With your fingers, rub the flour and fat together until they look like flakes of coarse meal.

    2. Pour in 8 tablespoons of ice water all at once and gather the dough into a ball. If it crumbles, add up to 4 tablespoons more ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until the particles adhere.

    3. Wrap the ball in wax paper, and chill for about 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, shape the pastry into a rough rectangle 1 inch thick and roll it into a strip about 21 inches long and 6 inches wide.

    4. Fold the strip into thirds to make a 3-layered packet 7 inches long and 6 inches wide. Turn the pastry around and again roll it out lengthwise into a 21-by-6-inch strip.

    5. Fold into thirds and roll out the packet as before. Repeat this entire process twice more, ending with the folded packet. Wrap it in wax paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

    FILLING:
    1. Over high heat, melt the butter in a heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet. Add the onions and, stirring occasionally, cook over moderate heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are soft and transparent but not brown.

    2. Stir in the beef and, mashing the meat with a fork to break up any lumps, cook briskly until no traces of pink remain. Grind the meat-and-onion mixture through the finest blade of a meat grinder (or, lacking a grinder, chop the mixture finely).

    3. Combine the meat in a large bowl with the eggs, dill, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly and taste for seasoning.

    4. Preheat the oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. With a 3- to 3½ - inch cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can.

    5. Gather the scraps into a ball and roll out again, cutting additional circles. Drop 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each round and flatten the filling slightly.

    6. Fold one long side of the dough up over the filling, almost covering it. Fold in the two ends of the dough about ½ inch, and lastly, fold over the remaining long side of dough. Place the pirozhki side by side, with the seam sides down on a buttered baking sheet.

    7. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with clear chicken or beef soup, on the appetizers table.
    		 
    		 
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