RUNZA (MEAT PIE)

Runza (meat pie) image

This is an old German recipe I got from my ex-mother in law years ago. The traditional Runza is made into individual meat filled rolls, I've always made it as one large casserole. Either way, I've been told recently that they freeze wonderfully. NOTEThe picture above is NOT of My Runza, it's one i pulled from the...

Provided by Jennifer McConnell

Time 2h

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

DOUGH (IF YOU'RE FEELING LAZY YOU CAN BUY FROZEN DOUGH ROLLS AT WALMART BUT THEY'RE NOT AS TASTY)
2 pkg active dry yeast
2 c warm milk
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c shortening, margarine or butter
7-8 c all-purpose flour
FILLING
2 lb ground beef
1 head of cabbage, finely shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste (you'll need quite a bit of it for flavoring)

Steps:

1. Put yeast and milk in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add sugar, salt, eggs and softened butter. Mix. Gradually add flour while mixing. Add flour until dough pulls together into a ball. Knead for 4 or 5 minutes or until dough is smooth. (This really works best with a free-standing mixer with a dough hook) Put in a greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow to rise until double. Punch down and let it rise again.
2. Brown ground beef. Add shredded cabbage and chopped onion and cook over medium heat until cabbage and onion is softened. Add salt and pepper to taste. It takes a lot! Start this about halfway through the second rise of the dough. Set aside until dough is ready.
3. IF YOU"RE MAKING INDIVIDUAL RUNZA ROLLS READ HERE Remove dough from bowl and divide into thirds. On a floured surface, roll one portion of the dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut into 5"or 6" squares. (Reserve dough you cut off to reroll.) Give each square an extra roll with the rolling pin before filling. Put a large mound of filling on the center of each dough square, Dot each meat pile with a dab of butter. Pull opposite corners of the dough together and pinch to hold. Pull the opposite two corners together and use your fingers to pinch all edges together to seal in filling. Turn Runza over and put on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (helps to keep any leakage from staining your cookie sheet) Space Runzas about 1 inch apart. When cookie sheet is full put a towel over it and let it rise for about 15 minutes. Bake Runzas in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes - until they are a deep brown. Remove from oven and rub butter on the top of each Runza. This recipe makes about 28 of these rolls.
4. IF YOU'RE MAKING THE CASSEROLE READ HERE: Preheat oven at 350. Grease a large 9x13" glass pan. Seperate your dough into 2 large balls....roll each "ball" out fairly thin. Place the first piece of dough in the bottom of your greased pan, allowing it to "creep" up the sides a bit. Spread your filling out on the dough in the pan, leaving about 1/2 an inch from the sides. Place 6-8 dabs of butter on top of the meat mixture. When finished, place the second piece of dough on top, and pinch the sides (as best as possible) of the bottom and top doughs together to "seal" your casserole. Cover with a towel and let sit for about 15 minutes to rise. Bake casserole for 20-30 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and a nice golden brown. Remove from oven and rub butter on top of the casserole. Serve hot!!! This should be served with extra butter sitting nearby.