Spinach Ossetian pie
Description
Delicious baked treat for the whole family. First, prepare an elastic dough. Warm up some milk and dissolve yeast in it. Add salt and sugar, then mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. Sift flour and add it to the milk. Knead the dough. If the dough isn't quite elastic yet, do not add more flour at this stage—add it later when you're shaping the dough. Place the dough into a deep bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rise in a warm place for two hours (if possible, leave it longer). One and a half hours after placing the dough to rise (30 minutes before it's fully risen), start preparing the filling. Thoroughly rinse the spinach. Sauté the spinach in a skillet without a lid for 7–10 minutes. Since brined cheese or Adyghe cheese is added to the spinach, there's no need to add salt—the cheeses are quite salty on their own. Mash the brined or Adyghe cheese with a fork. Finely chop green onions, dill, and a sprig of thyme. Mix the cheese, herbs, and spinach together. Divide the risen dough into three parts (in Ossetia, it's traditional to make an odd number of Ossetian pies for holidays). Roll each part into a ball first, then flatten it into a round flatbread. If the dough isn't elastic enough, add a little flour. Place the filling in the center of each flatbread (divide the filling into three equal portions). Carefully lift the edges of the flatbread with the filling, forming a pouch. Seal the edges well and press the pouch down gently to reshape it into a flat round pie. Repeat with all three portions. Make a small hole in the center of each pie to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake each pie in a preheated oven at 220°C (428°F) for 20 minutes. After baking, brush the Ossetian spinach pie with butter.