This is a wonderfully tasty, simple, and hearty cabbage pie. It comes together easily from the most basic ingredients and makes quite a large pie — plenty to go around. There's a generous amount of filling with just enough dough, making it satisfying, juicy, and fragrant. We'll bake it right on a sheet pan, so you don't even need a special pan. All in all, this is about as unpretentious and budget-friendly as it gets — a rustic, homey, "grandma-style" pie that many of us remember fondly from childhood. P.S. The pie is large, so if you don't have many mouths to feed, feel free to halve everything.
Ingredients:
- Dough:
- 600–700 g flour
- 500 ml kefir, yogurt (or sour cream mixed half-and-half with milk)
- 150 g butter
- 1 tsp baking soda (level)
- 1 tsp salt (level)
- Filling:
- 1.5 kg green cabbage
- 300 g onion
- 200 g carrots
- 50 g butter + 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- salt, pepper
- 2 eggs
- For the top (optional):
- 1 egg + 1 tbsp milk (for brushing)
- sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, flaxseed (or any combination you like)
How to cook cabbage pie
In a bowl, gently warm the kefir (or your chosen substitute), add the baking soda and salt, and let it sit for 5–7 minutes to allow the reaction to start. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.
Add 600 g of flour and stir together, then set the dough aside while you prepare the filling. Cover it so it doesn't dry out.
Make the filling. In a large heavy-bottomed pot (a Dutch oven or deep sauté pan works well), melt the butter together with the vegetable oil. Add the finely chopped onion and coarsely grated carrots. Sauté, stirring, until softened.
Add the green cabbage, cut into fairly rough pieces — there's no need to shred it thinly as you would for a salad. For easier stirring, add half the cabbage first, mix well, then add the rest and stir again.
Braise the cabbage until tender, about 10–30 minutes. The exact time depends on how densely packed and thickly cut your cabbage is, and how soft you want it in the finished pie. Toward the end of cooking, season generously with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust as needed — keep in mind that the saltiness will seem less pronounced once the filling is inside the pie, so it's important to season it well. Lightly beat the eggs in a cup with a fork, then pour them into the cabbage while stirring. Cook for another minute, then turn off the heat. Let the filling cool slightly (spreading it out on a couple of large plates will speed this up).
Take two-thirds of the dough and knead it briefly, adding a little more flour if needed, until it no longer sticks. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface and transfer it to the sheet pan.
Roll out the remaining third of the dough into a slightly smaller sheet and lay it over the filling. Press and fold the edges together to seal.
Brush the top with the egg lightly beaten with a spoonful of milk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, flaxseed, or whatever you like — poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, and the like all work great. Or skip the topping entirely; it'll be delicious either way.
Place in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F). Bake for about 25–35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the finished pie cool completely (!) before slicing. Cabbage pies always taste better once cooled, and they also slice much more cleanly at room temperature. Though of course it's all a matter of taste.
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