To a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter and eggs. Whisk together until the eggs and butter incorporate, then add the milk. Whisk again until you’ve got a mostly smooth mixture.

Now add the flour, salt, and paprika. Knead until the dough comes together. It will be smooth and pliable. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. You may need to add up to 1 cup more flour depending on the weather, but start slow, only adding a Tbsp or two at a time.

While the dough rests, you can make the potato filling.

Peel the potatoes if not using Yukon gold, then cut them into halves. If they’re large potatoes, cut them into quarters.

Place the potatoes in a large soup pot. Fill the soup pot with water so that the potatoes are submerged, and bring to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. A fork should easily pass through each potato.

Drain the potatoes, and put them back in the pot. Now add the butter, milk, mascarpone, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. With a handheld mixer or a potato masher, mash the potatoes until creamy and mostly smooth.

Now add the spinach to the potatoes. The potatoes will still be very warm, and the spinach will wilt. Use a spatula to mix the spinach into the potatoes until it’s wilted down and is evenly distributed throughout.

Potato filling is done, set aside.

(Refer to photo in the article above for this and the following step, if needed.)

Measure about 1 Tbsp of potato filling onto each piroshki round. Spread the filling so it mostly covers one half of the piroshki dough round. Don’t spread filling too close to the edges of the dough. Doing so will make it difficult to seal the edges when we fold the other half of the dough over the filling.

Next, cover the filling with the other half of the dough, pinching the edges together. If the edges don’t adhere, dip you index finger in water, rim the dough edge with water, and crimp the edges again. Using a very small amount of flour with the water can also be helpful.

Repeat the process of rolling, cutting, and compiling the piroshki with the remaining 3 sections of dough. (You can also freeze the remaining dough for later use.)

Carefully lower a few piroshki into the boiling water. I recommend boiling 3-6 piroshki at a time. As soon as they float to the top, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer the piroshki for 5 minutes.

Remove the piroshki from the water with a slotted spoon or fryer skimmer. Pat lightly with a paper towel to remove excess water, then place the boiled piroshki on a baking sheet to dry.

Repeat the boiling process with the rest of the piroshki.

At this point, you can fry the piroshki, or freeze them to fry later.

Add a few Tbsp of canola oil to a skillet, preferably nonstick. Turn the heat to medium, and let the oil warm, about 1 minute.

Keeping the pan on medium heat, add a few piroshki to the pan, and fry for about 3-5 minutes, until golden brown.

Flip the piroshki with your spatula, and fry the other side until golden brown, another 3-5 minutes.

Place the fried piroshki on a plate lined with a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Repeat the frying processes until all the piroshki have been fried.