Cabbage pie is a Russian dish traditionally made with cabbage, onion, carrot, and pickled hard-boiled egg, wrapped in a pie crust. It can also be made with sausage or ground beef. The filling is sautéed and seasoned with herbs and spices before being baked. Greece has its own version with feta cheese and shredded dill.
Cabbage pie is primarily a Russian invention, but can be found in different versions as far west as Greece. While traditionally prepared as a vegetarian meal to celebrate the Russian cabbage-harvesting holiday of Kapustnik, which literally translates to “cabbage pie,” the filling can also be filled with sausage or ground beef. In total, it’s loaded with cabbage, onion, carrot, and often pickled hard-boiled egg, then wrapped in a pie crust that’s baked until flaky and brown.
Cabbage pie crust dough can be purchased pre-packaged at stores. A phyllo-style dough will work best. If chefs choose to make them themselves, they do so with a combination of flour, oil, butter, water, and equal parts salt and sugar. For exact measurements, consult a recipe for pie doughs.
After the dough has been stretched across the bottom of a greased pie pan, it’s time to make the filling. This involves sautéing chopped onions, carrots, and cabbage in a hot oiled skillet until caramelized. Many chefs use pickled cabbage to make sauerkraut. Hard-boiled eggs should cook at the same time in another pot of simmering water, as they’re another traditional part of cabbage pie. After the eggs have been cut into pieces, they are added to the vegetables, along with some salt, pepper, tarragon, basil, marjoram, and sometimes with sour cream and tomato paste. Mushrooms are another common addition.
When the vegetables are almost cooked, they are poured into the pan, then covered with another circle of rolled out dough. Many chefs recommend baking cabbage pie at two different temperatures. They start at about 350°F (about 180°C) for half an hour, then reduce the heat to about 250°F (about 120°C) for another 20 to 30 minutes. The resulting cake should have a dark brown shell that is crunchy but not burnt.
Russia’s Kapustnik festival isn’t just about cabbage pie. It’s an excuse for a variety of cultural activities, from theater productions to town dances. Often meat eaters are included with sausage or minced meat added to pies.
Greece has long been the home of another type of cabbage pie. That country’s version includes Greece’s signature cheese, feta. It also replaces many of the Russian seasonings with simply shredded dill and one or more native olive varieties – pitted, of course, for safety reasons.
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