Speķa Pīrāgi

Medium·1 hour active + 2 hours resting

Latvian bacon-and-onion-filled crescent rolls — yeast-leavened dough wrapped around a filling of diced bacon and onion, formed into small crescents, baked until golden. The iconic Latvian celebration finger food.

Speķa pīrāgi are the iconic crescent-shaped Latvian bacon pastries, little yeast rolls stuffed with smoked bacon and onion. They are celebration finger food, baked by the basketful for Jāņi (Midsummer), Christmas and weddings.

Bite into a speķa pīrāgi — golden-brown crispy crust, soft yeasted dough inside, salty smoky bacon and onion filling steaming. Bite: dough pillowy and bread-sweet, bacon-onion umami-savory hot, deep smoky-pork flavor. Hand-food perfect for celebrations. At a Jāņi midsummer bonfire with mead and singing, this is Latvian tradition.

Yeast leavening creates light dough. Bacon-onion mixture must be cool when filling. Egg wash creates the golden shine.

Variations

With added cheese in filling. With more onion. With herbs. With sweeter dough. With smoked sausage instead of bacon. Smaller mini version.

On the Palate

Where Speķa Pīrāgi sits in the Latvian flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 12

400 g smoked baconPork

1Onion

1 tspSalt

1 tspBlack Pepper

How it's made

10 steps · 1 hour active + 2 hours waiting

1
70 min
Make dough: combine 500 g flour + 7 g instant yeast + 50 g sugar + 1 tsp salt + 250 ml warm milk + 50 g melted butter + 1 egg. Knead 8 min. Rise 60 min covered.
2
14 min
Make filling: dice 400 g smoked bacon (speķis). Cook in dry pan 8 min until crispy. Add 1 chopped onion; cook 5 min. Cool. Add 1 tsp black pepper.
Watch out
Let the bacon-onion cool right down before filling — warm filling kills the yeast and the dough won't rise.
3
5 min
Punch down dough; divide into 24 walnut-sized portions.
4
8 min
Roll each into a 10-cm oval; brush with egg wash.
5
14 min
Place 1 tsp filling at one end of oval; roll up, tucking ends to form a crescent.
6
32 min
Place on baking sheets; rise 30 min.
Watch out
They're proofed when a poke springs back slowly leaving a faint dent — spring back fast and they need longer.
7
14 min
Preheat oven to 200°C.
8
2 min
Brush crescents with beaten egg.
9
17 min
Bake 15-18 min until deep golden brown.
Watch out
Pull them at deep golden — pale ones taste of raw dough, and the egg wash is your color gauge.
10
5 min
Cool slightly; serve warm.