How to Make Meat Pies

Pies are a staple Russian pastry with various fillings. They’ve always been a symbol of home comfort and joy. Each recipe is unique and many of them were passed through generations. As early as in ancient Russia, pies were a benchmark of housewife skills. Women who could bake fabulously tasty and flavorful pies enjoyed honor and respect of the whole family. Many housewives had their own secret recipes. Here is the best recipe from our family heritage – meat pies. When my mother made them, we had a house full of people from our neighborhood. Pies were incredibly delicious.

Ingredients for Dough

• 3-3,5 cups flour
• 3 eggs
• 50 g butter
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup/ 8 fl oz/ 250 g milk (sour milk will do)
• Salt: 1 teaspoon
• Sugar: 1 tablespoon
• 30 g fresh yeast, or 1 tablespoon dry yeast

Ingredients for Filling

• 300-400 g pork meat
• 2 large onions
• Salt, Pepper: to taste.

Cooking Instructions

1. Mix yeast with warm milk, add salt, sugar and half glass of flour.
2. Wait until foam appears and add eggs, soft butter and vegetable oil.
3. Knead dough until smooth, adding flour gradually.
4. Form a ball, put into a bowl, cover with kitchen towel and put in a warm place for 2.5-3 hours.
5. As the dough rises, knead it several times.
6. When the dough is rising, prepare the filling.
7. Boil a whole chunk of meat with an onion and bay leaf.
8. Chop another onion finely and sauté in vegetable oil until golden.
9. When meat is ready, grate it with boiled onion using meat mincer for juicier filling.
10. Then transfer ground meat to the frying pan with sauteed onion and fry everything together for a few minutes.
11. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. Coat the table with oil, place the dough on it and knead well. Knead for about 10 minutes to make the dough more airy and elastic.
13. Roll out the dough and form a long roll. Cut into pieces of the same size and make small balls out of them.
14. Roll out small disks, or better from them with your fingers. Put the filling in the middle of each disk and fix the edges.

1. Put pies seam down and leave to rise for 20-30 minutes.

1. Place in a well pre-heated oven (350F – 175C) for 30-40 minutes.
2. Bake until nicely brown. Remove from the oven and arrange on a serving plate lined with paper towel.