Karelian Potato Pies
Finnish Karelian Pies with rye crust made with potato mash instead of rice porridge (or the most ancient filling: barley porridge). This is my late grandmother’s recipe; her family was from Rääkkylä village in Northern Karelia. The thin, sticky and easily cracking crust of Karelian pies is challenging to roll but the result is rewarding. Karelian pies are available in almost every store in Finland so I seldom bake them at home. My grandmother would laugh if she saw the pattern and finish of my pies but I gave it a try today.
Preparation ~1 hour
12-14 (roughly 10 cm wide) pies
List of all ingredients: 700-750 g potatoes, 55-65 g salted butter, 200 ml skimmed milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 400 ml rye flour, 1-2 eggs, 130 ml water
Filling
700 – 750 g potatoes
3 large tablespoons (30-40 g) softened butter
150 ml skimmed milk
1 teaspoon salt
(1 egg; optional)
Crust
~130 ml water
1/2 teaspoon salt
300 ml rye flour
Before baking
At least 100 ml of rye flour to be used on the tabletop
1 egg for brushing
After baking
50 ml milk and 25g melted butter (2 large tablespoons) to smear the crust
Cook the potatoes in unsalted water (30-40 minutes) until soft, drain and mash well. Add the softened butter, milk and salt. If you add an egg (I didn’t), let the mixture cool first.
Moisten a kitchen towel thoroughly and twist it. Sprinkle a good amount of rye flour on the tabletop. Roll a long stick from the dough and cut it into 12-14 pieces. Make little balls of the dough; put them inside the folded towel to prevent them from drying. Flatten each ball with your fingers as much as you can and roll the dough into a thin disc/sheet with a rolling pin (the shape is rather irrelevant; my grandmother used to make perfectly round discs). If the dough sticks or breaks while rolling (happens easily), just form a new ball, dip the ball into some flour and start over. The crust can be more or less floury. Excess flour can be brushed off.
Place each thin disc of dough carefully on top of each other under the moist towel. When you've finished rolling, place a big spoonful of filling on top of every sheet. Leave ~1,5 cm of the edges clear. Lift the edges a little on top of the filling by pinching them with your thumbs and index fingers into crinkles. Start from the middle and finish towards both ends. Brush with beaten egg and bake the pies on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven (250°C; 225°C fan) for ~20 minutes.
Brush the bottom crust of the warm pies abundantly with milk and butter mix. Serve with butter, butter and sour cream or with boiled, crumbled eggs mixed with butter or butter-sour cream mix.
Finnish Karelian Pies with rye crust made with potato mash instead of rice porridge (or the most ancient filling: barley porridge). This is my late grandmother’s recipe; her family was from Rääkkylä village in Northern Karelia. The thin, sticky and easily cracking crust of Karelian pies is challenging to roll but the result is rewarding. Karelian pies are available in almost every store in Finland so I seldom bake them at home. My grandmother would laugh if she saw the pattern and finish of my pies but I gave it a try today.
Preparation ~1 hour
12-14 (roughly 10 cm wide) pies
List of all ingredients: 700-750 g potatoes, 55-65 g salted butter, 200 ml skimmed milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 400 ml rye flour, 1-2 eggs, 130 ml water
Filling
700 – 750 g potatoes
3 large tablespoons (30-40 g) softened butter
150 ml skimmed milk
1 teaspoon salt
(1 egg; optional)
Crust
~130 ml water
1/2 teaspoon salt
300 ml rye flour
Before baking
At least 100 ml of rye flour to be used on the tabletop
1 egg for brushing
After baking
50 ml milk and 25g melted butter (2 large tablespoons) to smear the crust
Cook the potatoes in unsalted water (30-40 minutes) until soft, drain and mash well. Add the softened butter, milk and salt. If you add an egg (I didn’t), let the mixture cool first.
Moisten a kitchen towel thoroughly and twist it. Sprinkle a good amount of rye flour on the tabletop. Roll a long stick from the dough and cut it into 12-14 pieces. Make little balls of the dough; put them inside the folded towel to prevent them from drying. Flatten each ball with your fingers as much as you can and roll the dough into a thin disc/sheet with a rolling pin (the shape is rather irrelevant; my grandmother used to make perfectly round discs). If the dough sticks or breaks while rolling (happens easily), just form a new ball, dip the ball into some flour and start over. The crust can be more or less floury. Excess flour can be brushed off.
Place each thin disc of dough carefully on top of each other under the moist towel. When you've finished rolling, place a big spoonful of filling on top of every sheet. Leave ~1,5 cm of the edges clear. Lift the edges a little on top of the filling by pinching them with your thumbs and index fingers into crinkles. Start from the middle and finish towards both ends. Brush with beaten egg and bake the pies on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven (250°C; 225°C fan) for ~20 minutes.
Brush the bottom crust of the warm pies abundantly with milk and butter mix. Serve with butter, butter and sour cream or with boiled, crumbled eggs mixed with butter or butter-sour cream mix.
Last edited:
