Recipe for Lithuanian "kibinai"

Lithuanian meat pies "Kibinai"

Ingredients

• 500 g flour
• 250 g butter
• 2 eggs
• 100 ml sour cream
• ½ tsp salt

The filling

It can be either meat, spinach with ricotta cheese or even chocolate! However, the most traditional coming from the Karaims living in Trakai (Lithuania) should be with lamb

Spinach with cheese:

• Cheese,
• 500 g spinach,
• Salt, pepper.

Preparation

1. Whisk 2 eggs with salt and sour cream. Mix butter with the eggs and then start adding flour until it no longer is sticky. Too much flour may cause later problems, as the pastry will be too hard.

2. Cover in cling film and leave the dough in the fridge for 1 h.

3. While you wait for dough, prepare the filling. Pour boiling water on the spinach and let it sit 15 minutes. Then, rinse the spinach, chop the cheese into smaller pieces and mix it with the spinach (any cheese you like will be perfect! I choose almond creamy cheese – dairy free+vegan).

4. Take the dough and start cutting it into a small part. From each piece of dough roll a small surface and put a large spoon of filling. The pastry should be thin. Now close them nicely, so they won’t open in the oven and "run away"! If you want to challenge yourself, try to close them in the way you see on the photo – these are real "kibinas"! Put the pastries on baking paper, brush the top with the egg yolk and bake for 30 min at 200 °C.

5. You can enjoy them both hot and cold! Skanaus!

Photo gallery