Pirāgi

Pīrāgi – oven baked crescents filled with smoked meat – most important Latvian Christmas dish.

Ingredients

Step one: the Dough
You will need:
50 gr fresh yeast
300 ml warm milk
approx. 500 gr wheat flour
3 Tblsp sugar
1 tsp salt
30 ml oil, e.g. sunflower or grapeseed

Step two: the Pīrāgi
You will need:
the dough that you made in the previous step
1 egg
300 grams smoked bacon
pepper to taste
(optional) 1 small onion

Directions

Step 1

The Dough:

• Crumble the yeast in a small bowl, add one teaspoon of sugar and one teaspoon of flour. Then add two tablespoons of warm water and mix well. Leave it in a warm place, e.g. near a heater, to “wake up” the yeast. This will take you 10-30 minutes. The yeast is ready when it starts to rise.
• While the yeast is rising, heat up the milk. Then take a large bowl and add yeast, the warm milk, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Stir in the flour with a spoon to make dough, then continue kneading with your hands.
• After you have kneaded for a few minutes, mix in the oil. (This also helps to get that dough off your hands) If the dough is too sticky, you can add a bit more flour.
• Finally, roll the dough in a ball and leave it in a warm place to rise for around 2 hours.

Step 2

The Pīrāgi:

• Heat the oven to 200 C / 395 F and beat the egg in a small bowl. You’ll need it a little later.
• Cut the meat and, if you wish, onion, in small pieces and fry them in a pan for a few minutes, adding some pepper.
• Roll out your dough, now it’s time to make the pīrāgi. There are several ways one can do this. The easiest is to take a glass (around 10 cm / 4 in in diameter) and make dough circles. Cover half of the circle with the meat filling, fold it over and press the edges to close. Do it well, otherwise your pīrāgi will open while baking!
• (Which, to me, happens all the time. But it doesn’t spoil the taste and gives you a good reason to snack on the freshly baked goodness to hide the evidence!)
• Place the filled dough crescents on a pan that is covered with a baking sheet. Then lightly brush them over with the beaten egg to give them a shine.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool covered with a clean dish towel.

 

The dough should suffice for two pans of delicious, hot pīrāgi.

Serve and enjoy the taste of Latvian Christmas!