Russian Easter Pie
This dish is called Salmon Kulebyaka, and is a tasty Russian Easter treat!
Ingredients
For the dough:
350g plain flour
150ml milk
1 sachet fast action dry yeast (7g)
50g unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
For the filling:
400g of salmon
200-250g mushrooms
50g cooked rice
1 large onion
2 large boiled eggs
6-8 blini (crepes)
Bunch of parsley and dill
Seasoning
Vegetable oil
Egg wash (2 egg yolks & water)
For the blini (crepes):
250ml of milk
2 eggs
140g flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Method
1. First prepare the salmon by cutting it into small pieces, between 2-4 cm thick.
2. In a cup add the sugar, yeast and warmed milk. Mix everything together and set aside to activate for 15-20 minutes in a warm place. When it's ready add into a stand mixer with 1 egg, salt and melted butter. Mix well and then start adding the flour a little bit at a time, until you get nice soft dough. It should be elastic, soft and easy to work with. Knead the dough on a floured surface for few more minutes. In a large clean bowl, add olive oil and spread it around, then add your dough. Move it about and add more olive oil on top, so the dough doesn't dry out. Cover with damp towel and set aside for 1 hour or more to prove in a warm place, until the dough has doubled in size. Punch the dough few times and leave it for a second prove.
3. Now make the blini: Mix your eggs with sugar and salt, then add the milk and mix again. Sift in the flour and oil and mix well to make a nice thin batter. Add a bit of butter or oil into your pan and pour one ladle of the pancake mixture, cooking for few minutes on each side until golden. Set the pancakes aside to cool down.
4. For the egg filling: Boil your eggs for 8-10 minutes until hard boiled, leave to cool for a little while and then chop them up. Mix in the chopped parsley or dill and set aside.
5. To make the mushroom filling: Chop your onions and mushrooms and fry them in a pan for 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside to cool down.
7. It is important to make sure all your ingredients have cooled down. First prepare your dough. Place on a floured surface and then using a rolling pin roll out as much as you can into a large square. You might find it is easier to roll out on parchment paper. Leave a little bit of the dough for decoration if you wish!
8. Assemble the pie: Arrange all all the blini on the dough so they are touching the edges (there may be a gap in the middle of the dough with no blini). Then add your greens and egg filling in the centre, adding on top mushrooms and onions, then rice and spread it around. Top with your fresh chopped salmon. Pull the blini and pastry over the top of the mixture to make a wrap and seal all the edges with egg wash. Then flip the pie over so the join is hidden and place onto parchment paper. From left over dough, roll out different shapes and figures and decorate your salmon pie as you like, finishing with the egg wash.
9. Make cuts at both ends of the pie, so the steam can come out. Bake your salmon pie for 30-35 min at 200C or 400F. If you see that the pie is starting to brown faster, add foil and cover. Once its cooked, set aside, cover with towel and leave for 15 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!
