About this Dish
Karelian pasties — thin rye pastry shells filled with rice porridge or mashed potato, crimped at the edges into the characteristic oval shape, brushed with butter and baked. Eaten with munavoi (egg butter — hard-boiled eggs mixed with butter) on top. A UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage food. The crinkled rye crust and creamy rice filling is one of Scandinavia's most perfect flavour combinations.
IngredientsServes 6
🌾Dark rye flour, 200g
🧂Salt, 1 tsp
💧Cold water, 100ml
🍚Short-grain white rice, 100g
🥛Whole milk, 500ml
🧈Butter, 80g (plus extra for brushing)
🥚Hard-boiled eggs, 3 large
🧂Salt and white pepper, to taste
Method
1
Make the rice porridge first as it needs time to cool: combine the rice with 200ml water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until absorbed, then add the milk gradually, stirring often, and simmer for 30–40 minutes until thick and creamy. Season with salt, stir in 20g butter, then spread onto a tray to cool completely.2
Mix the rye flour and salt in a bowl, then add cold water a little at a time, stirring until a firm, slightly sticky dough comes together. Knead briefly until smooth, wrap in cling film and rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.3
Preheat your oven to 275°C (or as high as your oven goes) and line a baking tray. Divide the dough into 12 equal balls, then roll each one out on a floured surface into a very thin oval shape, roughly 2–3mm thick.4
Place 2 tablespoons of cooled rice filling along the centre of each oval, leaving a 1.5cm border. Fold the long edges of the pastry up over the filling and crimp firmly between your thumb and forefinger all the way around to create the traditional ruffled edge — don't worry if they look rustic.5
Bake the pasties for 12–15 minutes until the rye pastry is firm and lightly golden with some dark spots. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a small pan.6
As soon as the pasties come out of the oven, brush them generously all over with the melted butter, then cover with a clean tea towel for 5 minutes — this softens the crust slightly so it's not too hard to bite.7
Make the munavoi by finely chopping the hard-boiled eggs and mashing them together with 60g softened butter, a good pinch of salt, and white pepper until combined. Serve the warm pasties topped with a generous spoonful of egg butter.User Reviews
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