Russian Pastries

These little half-moon pastries pull off a clever trick: the dough is built from cream cheese, butter, and flour kneaded by hand until smooth, which gives you a tender, slightly tangy wrapper that bakes up flaky without any yeast or rolling-and-folding fuss.

The filling is pure old-school Russian comfort. Ground beef browns down with diced onion until the pan is dry, then comes off the heat to fold in sour cream, sweet pickle relish, dill weed, salt, pepper, and a chopped hard-cooked egg. That splash of water at the end keeps the mixture moist enough to hold together when you spoon it onto the rounds.

Chilling the dough is what makes the rolling sane. Cold cream cheese dough rolls thin without tearing and crimps cleanly with a fork. An egg wash on the edges is the seal that keeps juices inside while they bake.

Chef Tips

• Roll the dough to a true ⅛ inch. Thicker rounds bake up doughy and the filling-to-pastry ratio gets clunky.
• Press the fork-sealed edges hard. A loose seal pops open in the oven and the filling weeps out.
• Prick the tops before baking so steam escapes and the pastries stay crisp instead of puffing and splitting.
• Brush every visible bit of dough with the beaten egg for that deep golden, glossy finish.

Variations

• Swap the ground beef for ground lamb or ground turkey, keeping the dill and sour cream the same.
• Sub dill pickle relish for the sweet relish if you want a sharper, more traditional Eastern European tang.
• Add a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley or chives to the filling for color and a brighter herb note.