Vegan Pīrāgi, a vegan version of the traditional Latvian crescent-shaped baked bread rolls filled with smokey tempeh and onions.
Serving Vegan Pīrāgi
These Pīrāgi are great served on their own as a treat or snack. They also work really well with a bowl of soup.
The Pīrāgi can also be stuffed with really anything you want. We have tried adding vegan cheese to the tempeh mixture and it was great. The cheese goes soft and gooey. You could also substitute the tempeh for mushrooms. Just make sure you cook out most of the liquid. The filling should be quite dry.
Constructing Vegan Pīrāgi
- Roll out the dough to a thickness of 5mm. Cut out circles of dough using a cutter or cutting around a glass. We used a 8.5cm cutter. Place a generous teaspoon of the filling in the middle.
- Fold over the dough and seel the edge.
- Roll into a long rugby ball shape (American football).
- Shape into a cresent shape.
- Place each Piragi on a baking tray, making sure to leave room around them as they will rise further.
- Cover the buns with a damp kitchen towel then let prove for a further 15 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 180°C (356°F).
- Brush each bun all over with the melted butter then place in the centre of the preheated oven until golden all over. This will take 12 to 15 minutes.
Vegan Pīrāgi (Latvian Bacon Buns)
A vegan version of the traditional Latvian crescent-shaped baked bread rolls filled with smokey tempeh and onions.
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 300 g tempeh
- 15 g vegan butter
- 1 large onion finely diced
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper
Piragi Dough
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 7 g instant dried yeast
- 15 g sugar
- 5 g salt
- 280 ml unsweetened plant-based milk room temperature.
- 70 g vegan butter melted
Instructions
Filling
- Cut the tempeh into small cubes roughly 1cm in size.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot add the tempeh and fry until golden all over, around 8 minutes.
- Add the vegan butter and diced onion and continue to sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, around 6 minutes.
- Add the caraway seeds and smoked paprika and stir into the tempeh. Continue to cook for 1 minute then turn off the heat.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning. We added ½ teaspoon of salt and a good pinch of freshly cracked black pepper.
- Remove the filling from the pan and set aside to cool completely in the fridge.
Piragi Dough
- Add the flour, yeast, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients then pour in the plant-based milk. Mix well into a rough dough then knead for 8 minutes in a stand mixer or 12 minutes by hand until a smooth dough is formed.
- Add the dough to a well-oiled bowl then cover with a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, roughly 1 hour.
- Knock back the dough and cut it into roughly 4 equal parts.
- On a floured surface working with ¼ of the dough at a time roll out to a thickness of 5mm. Cut out circles of dough using a cutter or cutting around a glass. We used an 8.5cm cutter and managed to make 36 Pīrāgi from the dough. Excess dough can be rolled out again.
- Place a teaspoon of the cooled filling in the centre of a circle then fold over and seal the edge. Roll into a long rugby ball shape (American football) then shape into a crescent shape.
- Place each Piragi on a baking tray, making sure to leave room around them as they will rise further.
- Cover the buns with a damp kitchen towel then let prove for a further 15 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 180°C (356°F).
- Brush each bun all over with the melted butter then place in the centre of the preheated oven until golden all over. This will take 12 to 15 minutes.
Tried this recipe?Mention @mikeronm or tag #theveganplanetkitchen!
