Maslenitsa or Butterweek is going on in Russia right now. It’s a winter festival, saying goodbye to the cold winter days and greeting the warm and sunny spring. During this week people prepare and eat lots of blini. For breakfast blini can be served simple and quick with melted butter and sugar or some homemade jam, for lunch – again blini, and for the dinner, especially when the whole family is getting together, is really nice and festive to serve the delicious salmon pie or this one – soft, aromatic and nourishing spiral meat pie.
Blini and the filling can be prepared a couple of days ahead, so you can assemble the pie whenever you have the time or just before the dinner. Succulent stewed cabbage, tasty beef and aromatic dill along with coriander and parsley make the filling truly wonderful! Moreover, blini will be soaked in a mixture of sour cream and eggs, that adds extra moisture and taste.
Maslenitsa is a very kind and light time, each day has a special meaning according to old tradition. For example, Wednesday is called “Gourmand”. On this day huge tables and stalls were settled on main squares, where people could drink hot honey-based sbiten and aromatic tea, enjoyed gingerbreads, fresh buns and some other sweet treats, and definitely taste the unlimited blini! But the main event was the visit of son-in-law his mother-in-law, and the mother tried to prepare the best blini she could to show respect and love to her daughter’ husband.
On Friday, the mother-in-law returned the visit, then her daughter made pancakes and the son-in-law had to please the mother and her other relatives.
Blini spiral pie
The quantity of the ingredients is given approximately, as it totally depends on the taste, quantity of blini, etc.
*For the pouring mixture, you can use either sour cream or double cream; even milk will work, just reduce the quantity.
Ingredients
~8 blini
Filling
250g mince beef
250-300g raw white cabbage
1 medium red onion
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
dried herbs: dill, crushed whole coriander, marjoram
salt&pepper to taste
some oil for frying
2-3 tbsp sour cream (15-20%)
100ml double cream (30-35%)*
2 eggs
Garnish
sour cream
Method
- Make blini. The recipe is here.
- Heat some oil in one frying pan, add chopped onion and beef, season with marjoram and salt and pepper. Fry on a high heat for few minutes, breaking up the lumps with spatula. Reduce the heat to medium and fry for 10-15 minutes more. Then add some warm water, if the meat is too dry, cover with the lid and simmer until tender or while you’re preparing the cabbage.
- In another pan, heat the oil and shredded cabbage, fry on a medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, allow cabbage to brown but not to burn. Fry until cabbage is brown, then sprinkle with dill and coriander, season, cover with a lid and cook until the cabbage is soft.
- To assemble, you need any round baking dish, covered with baking paper and drizzled with oil. Mix meat with cabbage and fresh parsley. Take one blin and put one-two tablespoons of the filling into it, roll. Make as much as fits to the baking dish.
- Mix creams with eggs and pour over the blini pie.
- Bake in preheated 190C oven for 30 minutes.
- Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream.
Enjoy!
milkandbun 
What a great idea! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe
Hi Yana! how are you doing? Thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting! So easy and so good, isn’t it nice? 🙂
I haven’t made this spiral pie yet (and I missed Maslenica this year completely, didn’t make any single blin 😦 But I’m gonna have ‘delayed Maslenica’ and make this pie anyway, as it’s still on my mind 🙂
You know, I would missed it too, but my mother visited us, so I was able to make anything, plus to cook, sleep and rest!!!😄
You can buy this pie, called Burek here in Croatia on every corner, we love it so much!
As far as I remember burek is usually made with another pastry, the puff one? Which pastry is used in your country?
Ive been to Croatia but long time ago, Im not sure that Ive tried burek there, but I remember very delicious cheese and wine! lots of wine! hahaha 😀
Here it’s not made of puff pastry but pulled pastry 😊
Yeah,cheese and wine here are so tasty, and beer isn’t bad either 😁
Looks great! Thanks for sharing!
thanks so much, you are always very kind and supportive!
Oh this looks and sounds so delicious Mila! I love the round coiled shape, and the filling sounds so yummy too. This would be such an elegant lunch to share with others 🙂
Mila, I just realized I hadn’t been by for a bit to visit and what a fantastic holiday and story – and this is just a masterpiece! Just to weigh in, I think the daughter and the son-in-law might have got the better bit of the bargain, as they say here, sweetie! I love the photo I think I can almost taste it just by looking at it!