HOMEMADE PASTRMALIJA

This was my first time making pastrmalija using this recipe. I made 4 pastrmalijas, 2 with pork meat, the 3rd was enriched with cheese and egg and the 4rth was like pizza (since I didn't have enough meat). The given amount of meat in the recipe is good, 250 g for each pastrmalija. I used less.
So, for those who don't know, this is a typical Macedonian food,  some call it Macedonian pizza.  In the past, pastrmalija was made with meat called "pastrma". Pastrma is dried salted sheep meat. Nowadays, noone uses pastrma anymore, pork or chicken meat are mostly used, but the name remained.


Ingredients:

For dough:

• 800 g flour
• 250 ml lukewarm milk
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 cube fresh yeast (40 grams)
• 1/2 package baking powder (5 g)
• water as needed

For meat:

• 1 kg pork cut in small cubes
• 1 large spoon of red Bukovska pepper
• 1 large spoon of salt
• black pepper to taste
• oil

For coating:

• 100 g lard or if u don't have lard, butter

Preparation:

1. First prepare the meat. It's best to prepare it one day earlier, so the meat can soak up the spices and soften. Cut the meat into cubes, season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Coat with oil and mix well. Cover with nylon and leave to overnight.
   
2. For the preparation of the dough, first mix the yeast with lukewarm milk and sugar. When activated, put all the ingredients in a deep bowl.
3. Knead medium soft dough, add water as necessary and allow it to rise for 1 hour.
4. After 1 hour, again knead the dough and let it stand again for 20 minutes.
5. After rising the second time, knead it and divide it into 4 balls and again leave for 20 minutes to reach.
   
6. When they grow, shape them like pastmalija according to the size of the pan. They should be thinner on the inside and the edges should be thicker - like a boat. Coat with lard.
   
   
7. Before putting dough on the pan, sprinkle flour.
8. Add meat and pieces of pig fat on each pastrmalija.
   
9. Bake in a heated oven at 200 C degrees for 20 minutes. During baking, apply thin layer of lard on the edges of each pastrmalija and once again after baking.
10. Cover with clean towel after baking so they would soften.
11. Serve with hot peppers, or pepperoni.
    

Note: this is the basic recipe for pastrmalija. Optionally, you can prepare it with chicken meat, add cheese, eggs etc.