Karelian Pasties with Egg-Butter

This is a very traditional Finnish recipe that my mother taught me. Apparently there is a tradition of mothers teaching their daughters how to 'wrinkle' the pasties. Although they might sound simple, they take a bit of an effort to make, but are very much worth it!

Karelian pasties with egg butter. 

Ingredients (20 pasties)

For the rice filling:
1 cup water
2tbsp. butter
4 cups milk
1 cup pudding rice
1 tsp salt

For the pasty crust:
1.5 cups rye flour
0.5 cup wholewheat flour
3/4 cup cold water
1 tsp salt

For the egg butter:
4 hard boiled eggs
50g salted butter

Wholewheat flour
Baking sheet
Cling film
Pasty brush

Price Tag

Under £10. The shopping list basically consists of rye flour, wholewheat flour, pudding rice, milk, butter, and eggs, so it's really basic stuff! 

Directions

Rice filling:

1. Bring the water and butter to boil. Add milk and rice. Stir until the mixture until it starts to boil. 
2. Bring down the heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes. Add salt and remove from the stove. Let the filling cool down.
3. Preheat the oven to 225C. As the pasties are cooked on baking trays, prepare by cutting 3-6 sheets of baking paper to fit your trays. 

Preparing the rice filling.

Crust:

1. In a bowl, mix the cold water with the flour and salt. 
2. Wrap the dough in cling film to prevent from drying.

Baking:

1. Separate 1/4 of the dough, make it into a roll and cut out small balls of about 1 inch diameter. 
2. Flour a rolling pin and roll each ball into a thin, circular crust base of no more than 1mm in thickness. Make a stack of the bases and cover with cling film. 
3. Take one base and remove extra flour with a few strokes of a pasty brush. Add one tablespoon of the rice filling to the middle of the base and spread, leaving about 1cm of the base free on every side.  
4. Turn the sides on top of the filling and tighten by pinching the crust around the pasty. Place the pasty on the baking sheet and fill the tray.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Repeat until the dough runs out.

Baking: Rice filling in a pan, a stack of the crust bases, and making an individual pasty.

A tray of unbaked and baked pasties, which have been dipped into buttermilk (see Tips).

Egg-butter:

1. Boil four eggs and chop into tiny cubes once cooked. 
2. Add soft butter and some salt, if needed. 
3. Spread some egg-butter on the prepared pasties and enjoy! 

Karelian pasties with egg-butter.

Doll's Tips:

After the pasties have been baked, you can dip them in a mixture of warm milk and melted butter to give them a softer, tastier crust. Measure 1 cup of milk and 25g of butter to a microwave dish, heat and dip the pasties in the mix. Lift on top of a baking sheet and wait until cool.
Also, if the rice filling isn't to your liking, you can replace the filling with a root vegetable mash or just basic potato mash - both are done in Finland as well.