Ossetian Cheese and Potato Pie

Make the dough. Sift the flour into a large container, preferably one with a lid, and stir in the yeast.

Take milk at room temperature (you can warm it to 30°C/86°F — I didn't bother), add the sugar and salt, and stir to combine.

Mix the flour with the yeast, then pour in the milk.

Knead the dough — it will be fairly sticky and soft. Add the vegetable oil and knead once more.

Cover with the lid (or stretch plastic wrap over the top). Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour — it should roughly double in size. If it hasn't risen enough, give it a bit more time.

Make the filling. Peel the potatoes, cut them into rough chunks, season lightly with salt (keeping in mind that the salty brynza will be added later), and boil until tender.

Drain all the liquid from the cooked potatoes, add 50 g butter, and mash with a potato masher until smooth.

Grate the brynza on a coarse grater.

Add the grated brynza to the mashed potatoes and mix well. Divide the filling into three equal balls. The filling is ready.

Punch down the dough by working your hand through it in a circular motion. This releases the carbon dioxide that has built up and replaces it with oxygen, allowing the dough to rise a second time — the pies will be more elastic and have an even, uniform crumb. Cover and let the dough rest for another 30–40 minutes (it should double in size again).

Once the dough is ready, you can start shaping the pies. I used a 30 cm round cutting board as my work surface (you can also use a large-diameter skillet or just your countertop). Dust the work surface with flour. Pinch off one-third of the dough (about 330 g — you can weigh it for accuracy). Place the piece of dough on the board and knead it briefly, dusting with flour until it no longer sticks to your hands.

Stretch the dough out into a large flat round, dusting with flour as needed. Place one ball of filling in the center.

Gather the edges of the dough up and around the filling to form a pouch.

Pinch the edges of the dough together at the top to seal.

Press the filled ball down flat with the palm of your hand.

Continue pressing and stretching the dough out to fit the shape of your board, dusting with flour as needed.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust it lightly with flour. Flip the pie onto the parchment and stretch it out further to fill as much of the pan as possible. The ideal thickness of the unbaked pie is no more than 1 cm. Make a small hole in the center to let steam escape. Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200°C (400°F) and bake for 25–30 minutes.

To stack the finished pies, I used a second baking sheet (a large plate works too). Brush the baking sheet or plate with butter, place the hot pie on top, and brush the top generously with butter as well. Always brush the pie while it's still hot.

Shape and bake the remaining two pies the same way. Stack them on top of each other, brushing each pie with butter.

Here's what the Ossetian pie looks like when sliced.