Wedding Pirog

Pirog is a traditional Pastry based russian recipe.

wedding pirog Recipe Ingredients:

*
1 oven ready chicken
*
salt & pepper
*
5 tablespoons of flour
*
1 cup of butter
*
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock
*
1/2 cup of thick cream
*
1 sprig of chopped parsley
*
1 cup of rice
*
1/2 pound of mushrooms
*
5 hard boiled eggs, chopped
*
1 sprig of dill, chopped
*
1 egg, beaten
* Short crust pastry made with 4 cups of flour and soured cream

Wedding Pirog Recipe Instructions:

Boil the chicken in salt water for about 40 minutes (until it is tender). Once it has cooled, remove the skin, carve and remove the bones and then slice the chicken.

Prepare a light roux with 4 tablespoons of butter and flour. Add the stock, bring it to the boil and then stir in the cream and parsley, adding salt and pepper to season the sauce to taste.

Cook the rice for about 15 minutes so that it is al dente and then drain.

Thinly slice and saute the mushrooms in butter. Melt the remaining butter and mix in the eggs and dill.

Add some sauce to both the chicken slices and the mushrooms and stir well.

Roll a quarter of the party in to a circle, it should be about half the thickness of a finger (about 3/4 of a cm) thick. Place this base on a floured baking tray.

Now build up layers of the cooked rice, then the egg mixture, then the chicken slices, and then the mushrooms on pastry base. Repeat the layers until all the ingredients are used, tapering the layers in as you go so that it forms a natural dome shape.

Roll out the remaining pastry in to a large circle (about 1/2 cm thick) and use this to cover the filling. Remove the excess pastry and ensure the edges are securly sealed .

Use the excess pastry to decorate the outside, but don't forget to cut a small hole in the top to let steam escape as it cooks.

Brush the outside with a beaten egg and then bake for 40-45 minutes at 375F.

Serve hot or cold.