pasty dough:

300 ml bolted rye flour *)
pinch of salt
100 ml water
1 - 2 tbsp turnip rape oil

300 g carrots, diced
pat of butter
100 - 200 ml cream
2 egg yolks
dark molasses
pinch of salt

butter

Sauté the carrots in butter, add the cream. Cook until the cream is almost entirely absorbed in the carrots. Puree the carrots through a food mill and let cool a bit. Add the egg yolks and season with salt and molasses  —  the filling should taste slightly sweet. Mix to get a smooth, not too runny paste. Cover and set aside.

Prepare the pasty dough: mix the flour and salt, add the oil and water little at a time and mix to get a firm, non-sticky dough. Divide the dough in equal-size pieces and roll them into small balls. With a tapered rolling pin, roll out the flattened balls one at a time into very thin disks, about 1 mm thick and 7 - 8 cm in diameter. (You could also try to use a pasta machine for rolling.) Cover the pie disks lightly with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.

Spread about ½ cm thick layer of the carrot filling evenly in the centre of the pie disks, see figure 1 below. Note: the filling must not be too runny, it should hold its shape when spread on the pie disks.

Raise the edges of the pie disks over the filling towards the centre, pinching the edges with your fingers (see figure 2) to make the pasty look like shown in figure 3.

	Figure 1
	Figure 2

Figure 3

Place the pasties on baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 260 °C for about 7 minutes or until brown specks start to appear. Melt some butter and brush the hot pastries generously with it. Place the pasties in a large bowl, cover the bowl tightly with parchment paper and a towel, and let the pasties soften for about half an hour.

Serve the warm pasties as cocktail snacks, spread with butter. The pasties can be reheated in oven or a toaster.

See recipes for Karelian potato pasties and Karelian rice pasties.

*) Use rye flour milled from partly hulled rye kernels, having a finer texture and lighter colour than regular rye flour. If this flour (also known as "bolted rye flour") is unavailable, use half regular rye flour and half wheat flour.