Karjalan Pies

SUBMITTED BY: Sara A PHOTO BY: Kalyn

"These savory pastries were my favorite thing to eat in Finland. Rice porridge surrounded by a rye flour crust, baked until slightly browned. In Finland, they're often eaten at breakfast or lunch. Delicious topped with ham, cheese, or just (real!) butter."

PREP TIME	50 Min
COOK TIME	15 Min
READY IN	1 Hr 5 Min

SERVINGS & SCALING

Original recipe yield: 16 pastries

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INGREDIENTS

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk
salt to taste
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup rye flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, or as needed
3 tablespoons butter, melted

READ REVIEWS (13)

DIRECTIONS

Combine rice and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Stir in milk, cover, and cook until milk is absorbed by the rice, about 20 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir together the salt and rye flour. Stir in water. Mix in all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is just past the sticky stage. Divide the dough into 16 equal portions.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough out into a thin circle 6 inches in diameter. The dough should be as thin as possible. Place about 3 tablespoons of the rice mixture in the center of each circle. Spread the mixture out to within 1 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the dough upward, and crimp the edges so as to allow the pastries to hold their shape. Pinch the sides at each end to form a little boat. Place pastries about 3 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet, and brush the tops with butter.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the dough is firm, and the rice porridge is slightly browned on the top. Serve warm.

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REVIEWS

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Reviewed on Jan. 13, 2005 by Ryan

This recipe is just like the recipe I got from a mummu (old Finnish grandma) who showed me how to make them before I left the country. She of course made them without a recipe, and I roughly tried to copy it down into a recipe, and it came out pretty much like this. FYI, there are two types of rye flour: course (or regular) rye flour and fine rye flour. Use the course flour for this since you'll be mixing wheat flour in with it. Also, you'll end up putting about the same amount of wheat flour in as rye flour, so you don't have to do it one tablespoon at a time, you can almost double it at first and then add slowly until the texture is right. You can also add egg white to the butter to brush on top, and you can also brush them again while they're oven if you want them super golden brown and soft, but it's hardly necessary. For the rice, try to use sushi or short grain rice, but if you can't find it, I think Thai Jasmine rice is the next best. Also, these are best with whole milk and real butter. Finns usually serve these by spreading butter on top, followed by some type of cheese (usually Edam). It's very common to eat them with ham, and you can really put on whatever you want (tomato, lettuce, etc.). A lot of work, but worth it!

7 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Dec. 12, 2006 by kuratenko

Time consuming but fun to make the boat shape. The dough can be sticky so dusting is important when rolling out the dough. My hubbie found this a bit confusing, though, because he expected sweet rice pudding wrapped in dough. Leftover made a great snack when reheated in the oven.

4 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Jun. 19, 2005 by NADAS6

Of course the Finns will probably flip when they read this, but I didn't have any rye flour, so I used regular flour and added a tsp. of italian seasoning, tsp of chives, and a tsp of rosemary. The pies turned out wonderfully and tasted great. I will definately try this again and see what it tastes like with rye flour.

4 users found this review helpful

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