I’ve made these cabbage filled individual pies a couple of weeks ago. These are similar to ones made by my mother, using an Armenian inspired recipe from one of my teachers. I used to love them.

I’ve used a hot water pastry because I love working with it, it also has less fat, thus it is a bit of a healthier alternative. The filling is made with cabbage, lots of cabbage, making it even more healthy as is packed with veggies.
The pies were delicious mainly because of the spices. Add lots of smoked paprika, it will give it such a great taste. You can use fresh cabbage, but I had a bag of frozen cabbage that was already chopped, so easier to use.

Ingredients for 12 Cabbage Filled Individual Pies:

– 170g plain white flour
– 160g plain wholemeal flour
– 115g vegan butter
– 150ml water
– 750g cabbage
– 2 spoons of oil
– sea salt
– 1/2 tsp black pepper
– 2 tsp smoked paprika
– 1 tsp dried basil
– soya milk for brushing the pies
– sesame seeds

Start by making the filling. It will have to be cooled down before it can go into the pies. Heat the oil in a big pan. Toss in the frozen cabbage. Stir and leave to cook. You might need to add a bit of water, but the cabbage will release water. Cook the cabbage until there isn’t any more moisture in the pan. Add the spices and stir. Take off the hob and leave to cool down. You can transfer the cabbage in a cold bowl so it will cool down faster.

While the filling is cooling, make the hot water crust pastry. Boil the water with the butter and pour it over the flour and sprinkle a bit of salt on top. Mix with a spoon and leave for a bit to cool down, so it will not burn when kneading. When it’s at a temperature it can be worked with, tip the dough on the worktop and start kneading. Knead for a couple of minutes, until all the flour is incorporated. Leave the dough to rest.

Pre-heat the oven at 180C or 160C for ovens with fan.

Roll the pastry and cut the round shapes. Roll the shapes a bit, to make them slightly bigger. Place the dough in the dumpling maker. Put the filling inside while pressing with a spoon. Fold the dumpling maker, to seal the pie.

Brush the pies with the milk, sprinkle sesame seeds on top, and put them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Put the tray in the oven to bake. It should take around 25 minutes for the pies to be ready. I recommend turning the pies after 20 minutes, so they cooked evenly, if you don’t use a fan oven.

When it’s ready, the pastry is golden brown. Take the baking tray out of the oven. Transfer the pies on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!