Pirozhki

I absolutely love pirozhki! Once you read this recipe, you'll crave them. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time or grab some extra hands to help. Making the dough, letting it rise, rolling it out, this all takes quite a bit of time. You probably could get away with using premade dough, but trust me - the rich eggy bread in this recipe is worth the effort.

This recipe makes 25 pirozhki of each filling, but you also could make larger rolls, which would probably be just as good. Here's how I made them:

Dough
1 envelope dry yeast, dissolved in ¼ cup warm water
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup milk

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the dissolved yeast and butter and mix well, then stir in the milk and eggs. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead till soft and well blended. Form a ball, return it to the bowl, cover it and let it rise for about 40 minutes. Then, roll the dough into 1" balls and cover them with a damp cloth or papertowels while you work.

Meat Filling
Oil/butter/margarine
1 lb beef/pork meatloaf mix
1 onion, finely diced
Flat-leaf parsley, minced

Preheat oven to 400°. Saute the onions in the oil over medium high heat till golden. Add the meat and brown completely. Mix in the parsley right before you form the pirozhki.

Egg Filling
Combine the following:
2 bunches scallions, finely diced
5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Flat-leaf parsley, minced

Roll each dough ball relatively thin and fill with 1 Tbsp of the meat filling. Fold over each edge and place on a greased cookie sheet, seam side down. Repeat till the meat is gone. Brush the rolls with a beaten egg (thinned with water, if needed). Bake for 20 minutes till golden brown.

Repeat this process with the egg filling, and back at the same temp for the same amount of time.