Small Fish Pies

These charming pies are the traditional accompaniment to fish broth, ukha. Their name comes from the Russian rasstegnut’, “to come undone,” because the pies’ fanciful shape (with their filling exposed) makes one suspect they’ve popped open in the baking.

In the past, when appetites were larger, rasstegai were often made the size of a salad plate. One noted Moscow tavern, Yegorov’s, claimed to serve the best rasstegai in town. When these fish pies were ordered, the ukha came free. It