Gluten-Free Meat PIROSHKI
Piroshki is Ukrainian for hand pies made from yeasted dough.
This recipe is for minced meat-filled piroshki, cooked with garlic, mushrooms and bacon, seasoned with fresh herbs and sweet paprika.
Variation of fillings
Every Ukrainian household has a family recipe and favourite filling. There are so many different fillings, but common choices include minced meat, fried cabbage, egg & rice and vegetables in season from mushrooms to eggplant.
Sweet piroshkis are usually filled with cooked fruit and/or ricotta-style Ukrainian cheese. The sugar is usually increased in the piroshki dough to match the sweet filling.
Meat Piroshki Filling
The filling is made in a large pan over the stove in under an hour. This steady cooking ensures that the cooking liquid is fully absorbed by the meat and mushrooms. It is important to get to this consistency so that the filling does not leak liquid out of the bun while baking.
Gluten-Free Yeast Dough
This delicious savoury filling is encased in gluten-free yeast dough and baked. The texture of the baked pastry is soft and pillowy, a perfect match for the meat filling, absorbing some of the flavours into the pastry.
Despite the lack of gluten, the xanthan gum helps enormously to bind the dough together and gives great elasticity, which makes assembling easy and quick.
To give each piroshki that golden finish, make sure to brush the tops generously and top them off with some poppy seeds (or sesame seeds if poppy seeds are hard to source).
How to eat Piroshki
They can be eaten warm or cold, making them a great on-the-go snack or for picnics and lunch boxes.
As a main meal dish, I would suggest serving them warm with some cooked beetroot, roasted or steamed vegetables and sauerkraut.
For a non-traditional touch, serve some mustard or tomato ketchup on the side for dipping the piroshkis in.
Made too many?
If you find that you have too many piroshkis left over, you’ll be please to know that they freeze extremely well.
After a short thaw, they are covered in foil and reheated in a moderate oven for 10 mins.
Gluten-Free Meat Piroshki
Ingredients
PIROSHKI - Dough
- 250 ml warm milk
- 2 tsp dried yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 500 g store-bought or homemade gluten-free plain flour
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 130g melted butter
PIROSHKI– Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 150 g button mushrooms, sliced
- 500 g minced beef or pork, or both combined
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 50 ml tomato puree or Passata
- 100 ml store-bought or homemade vegetable or beef stock
- 2 rashers bacon, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped finely
- ½ tsp sweet paprika powder
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tbsp cornflour (optional) Known as cornflour in the UK and corn or maize starch in the USA
Extras
- 1 egg, lightly beaten with some water
- poppy seeds, to sprinkle on the tops
- Tapioca flour, for rolling
Instructions
PIROSHKI - Dough
- Heat up the milk until warm and stir in the yeast and sugar.
- Cover and allow to react for 10 mins.
- Melt the butter and allow it to cool down slightly.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, xanthan gum, salt and caster sugar together.
- Make a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the cooled melted butter, egg yolks and yeast mixture.
- Start mixing with a wooden spoon and then using your hands, bring the dough together, kneading for a few minutes.
- Cover and rest the dough in a warm spot for one hour.
PIROSHKI– Filling
- In a large pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and fry the onion, garlic, mushrooms and bacon until the bacon is crisp.
- Increase the heat to high and add the minced beef or pork, stirring well for 5 mins.
- Add the tomato paste, fresh herbs and sweet paprika.
- Once combined, add the tomato puree or Passata and lower the heat to medium-low.
- Allow to simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.
- After 10 mins, most of the liquid should have been absorbed by the meat and mushrooms. If there is still too much liquid, add the cornflour to thicken it.
- Cook for a further 2 mins or until the liquid evaporates.
- Turn the heat off and allow the mixture to cool down.
- Either start stuffing the piroshkis with this meat mixture or cover and chill to assemble later.
Assembling the piroshkis
- Knead the dough on a floured surface and then divide the dough into equal golf size balls.
- Roll each ball out to 12 cm in diameter, sprinkling more flour on the surface if it starts to stick.
- Add a large tablespoon of filling to the centre of the rolled-out dough.
- Gather the edges of the dough and meet in the middle, pressing together.
- Pinch the dough firmly at the centre to enclose the filling.
- Place the piroshki pinched side down on a greased or silicone mat lined baking tray.
- Once all the piroshkis are assembled, cover and allow them to rest for 10 mins.
- Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle them with poppy seeds.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Bake for 25 mins.
- Allow to cool on the tray for 5 mins before serving.
Notes
- Keeps for 3 days chilled
- Suitable to freeze
- Reheat covered in foil in a moderate oven for 10 mins
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If the gluten free flour mixture has xanthan gum already, do you still add 2 tsps?
Hi Helena! From my experience, different store-bought flour blends have varying quantities of xanthan gum and on some occasions, certain recipes need that extra support to bind effectively, so my advice is to halve the xanthan gum indicated in the recipes when your flour already has xanthan gum. My plan is where applicable in similar recipes, I will make a comment about this. Thanks for pointing this out! Have fun making the piroshki, they are so delicious and popular in our home!