Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian Rice Pies with Egg Butter)

Ingredients

• 150 g white rice
• 7 dl milk
• 2 tsp salt
• 200 g rye flour
• 60 g wheat flour
• 1½ dl water
• 150 g butter
• 4 egg

Method

1. 1.

   Cook the rice porridge — Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then put it in a heavy saucepan with the milk and 1 tsp of the salt. Bring to a bare simmer and cook uncovered on the lowest heat for 35-40 minutes, stirring often and scraping the base, until the porridge is thick enough to hold the trail of a spoon. Stir in 20 g of the butter and leave to cool.

2. 2.

   Knead the rye dough — Mix the rye flour, wheat flour and remaining 1 tsp salt in a bowl, pour in the lukewarm water and work it into a firm dough. Knead on the worktop for about 5 minutes until smooth and only just tacky — rye has almost no gluten, so it will never feel elastic. Roll into a log, cut into 12 pieces and keep them under a cloth.

3. 3.

   Roll paper-thin ovals — Heat the oven to its highest setting, at least 275°C, with a heavy baking tray inside. On a surface dusted with rye flour, roll each piece into a very thin oval about 15 cm long — thin enough that you can just make out the board through it. Stack them with a dusting of flour between.

4. 4.

   Fill and crimp the pies — Spread about 2 tbsp of the cooled rice porridge down the centre of each oval, leaving a 1.5 cm border bare. Fold the two long edges up over the filling and pinch them into tight pleats with wet fingertips, working along the pie so the middle stays open and the porridge shows.

5. 5.

   Bake hot and butter — Slide the pies onto the preheated tray and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the crimped rims are dark brown and blistered and the filling is speckled with colour. Melt 60 g of the butter and brush it generously over the pies the moment they come out, then stack them under a cloth for 10 minutes so the crust softens.

6. 6.

   Make the egg butter — While the pies bake, hard-boil the eggs for 9 minutes, cool them under cold water and peel. Chop them finely and mash with the remaining 70 g butter, softened, and a pinch of salt until you have a coarse, spreadable egg butter. Spoon it generously onto the warm pies and eat them the same day.