Is She Italian or Russian?

Dear Bloggers,
       Now I am questioning what ethnicity I am seeing as I perfectly made Pirozhki for the first time. Yes, and they were so time consuming and quite easy. It wasn't just making the dough, then preparing the stuffing, then forming them. It was the tender loving care it took to make them taste amazing and fluffy inside.
        It all began with my first blog of the Russian diet and what composed it and why. There I stumbled upon this beautiful creation, the pirozhki. After carefully examining it and seeing different ways to cook the pirozhki I decided to make the traditional pirozhki which consist of ground beef, onion, and cabbage filling. I began by making the dough where I combined 1 package of yeast with 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup of 114 degree water. In a bowl to the side, I started with 2 cups of flour. In pyrex glass cup I heated up 1 cup of almond milk (original recipe calls for whole milk, but I'm lactose intolerant) with 1 teaspoon of honey. I whisked 2 eggs in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of salt and mixed the eggs with the milk. I added the milk and eggs to the flour and then added the yeast. Make sure that your milk mixture does not exceed 115 degrees as it will kill the yeast. Then I gradually added in more and more flour until a perfect dough was formed. I oiled the dough in a bowl and let it rise in the oven with the light on for 1 1/2 hour.

       While the dough was rising, I diced 1 yellow onion and put it in a saucepan with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and began to cook the onions, then added in 1 pound of ground turkey. I seasoned with 2 teaspoons of dill, salt, and pepper, and 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric. I put it aside in a bowl. In the same pan, I added some more olive oil and cooked down 1/2 chopped cabbage with salt and pepper, then added the cabbage to the ground turkey and onions. I then hard boiled 2 eggs and chopped them and added them to the turkey mixture in the bowl. Once the dough was done rising, I formed golf sized balls (makes approximately 30) and put them on baking sheets lined with flour. Then, I put them back into the oven to rise for another 30 minutes.

        Then I rolled out the individual balls into 3-4 inches in length and 5 inches in diameter. I filled them with the turkey mixture, 2 teaspoons at most, then lined the edges with egg to seal. I then folded the two edges in and placed them seam side down on a greased baking sheet. I painted egg wash onto the dough and salted them before I cooked them for 15 minutes on 400 degrees. They turned out beautifully and deliciously. I guess you could say I'm Russian secretly, haha. I served the pirozhki with a warmed spiced tomato soup. It was quite a yummy meal. Well, I hope you try this recipe and don't run away in fear, despite its time consumption of 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours, but it all paid off when they came out of the oven. The smell in the house is indescribable. Until next time, stay healthy and happy cooking!