First, let me begin with a bit of history. I was first introduced to piroshkis back in the 1960s. My dad was a janitor at a grade school a few blocks from our home. One of the guys he worked with was married to a Russian woman who sent some of those lovely, doughy globes to work with him. He was kind enough to share and that was the beginning. My mom then created her own version and that's the basis for what we've been making ever since.
We begin with a tube of Pillsbury French bread dough. What!? No exotic dough created by hand? Well, my wife Joyce used to make a cheese dough by hand years ago. But these days we go the more expedient route. Take a roll of this dough:
www.pillsbury.com/products/breads/crusty-french-loaf
Cut in half, then cut each half in half and each of those in half. You'll have eight pieces of dough. Roll each out to a disk about 4 inches across and set aside.
Now you can fill each one with any combination meat, veggies and cheese you want. What do we use? Well, it depends on what's in the fridge. This time it was:
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
1 stalk of celery diced
1 lb. of hamburger
about 4 ounces of leftover pot roast chopped fine
some shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt
pepper
olive oil
In a 12 inch cast iron skillet that's preheated, add some olive oil. About 2-3 tablespoons should do. Throw in all the veggies. Sauté until the veggies are soft and the onion slightly browned. Then throw in the raw burger and cook until browned. Throw in the pot roast and continue cooking until everything is browned and delicious. Take off the heat and let it cool.
On each disk of dough place about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture and a pinch of cheese. Pinch the dough together around the mixture and place each on a greased sheet pan. Or better yet, use one of those nifty silpat mats. They're SO cool! We got one for a gift last Christmas and love it. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown, or as done as you'd like. Remember, the mixture is already cooked. You're just cooking the dough.
When you pull the sheet of piroshkis out of the oven, rub each with some shortening and sprinkle each with kosher salt. Or if you're like us and happen to have some exotic salt, use that. In the image you see here I used black lava salt. It looks like poppy seeds but it's really salt.
That's it. Heat them in the microwave or eat them at room temperature or even cold. Heated with beef gravy is good. Got some other leftovers in the fridge? Throw it in. Pork, chicken, sausage, whatever. Don't like meat? Then use any mixture of veggies and do the same. Corn and potatoes work great. Can't stand wheat flour/gluten? Well, you're out of luck unless you use some kind of rice flour or something.
Anyway, they're not what they used to make or still make in Russia or Poland or wherever. But they were inspired by what one woman brought to this country and made an impression on a family in Seattle years ago. Enjoy!
