Albania is the second country listed in alphabetical order and my kitchen adventure for this week. When I was researching Albanian food I was fascinated with all the dishes, so much so that I cooked two this week Tavë Kosi and Fergese ... I might even come circle back at some point and make one of their pies. I was very excited about this week. Albania is one of the most homogenous countries in Europe, around 90% of their population is Albanian, but their food has influences from all its neighbouring countries and also benefits benefits from rich soil and proximity to the sea. I also found out that food in Albania is divided into regions depending on what each area produces, in the north corn rules, and in the centre animal products rule. Tavë Kosi is from Central Albania and is also known as Tavë Elbassani, it's a dish made by baking meat in yogurt. When it came out of the oven it looked a bit like a Toad in the hole sans the sausages! I must confess I was a bit apprehensive about the dish, but plain as it looks it was delicious and very easy to make!
I would suggest serving with a fresh salad as it's quite rich and has enough calories on it's own!
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the base
600g diced lamb
10g butter
20g olive oil
90g rice
2Tsp dried oregano
500ml water
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
For the top
20g butter
2tbsp flour
750g greek yogurt (or good quality plain yogurt)
5 eggs
Salt and pepper
nutmeg
Method
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add the butter and oil. Once the oil is hot add the lamb and brown on all sides (about 4 minutes). Then add salt, oregano and garlic, and 400 ml of the water. Allow the water to boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook the meat for 50 minutes.
After 50 minutes most of the water will have evaporated. Add the rice and the last 100 ml of water. Cover again and cook for 10-12 minutes stirring occasionally until the rice is mostly cooked. Most of the water should now have evaporated.
Pre-heat the oven to 350F or 180C.
Put the lamb and rice mix into a pan and spread evenly across the bottom. I used a 19x33cm roasting tray.
In a small frying pan melt the butter and add the flour. Stir until the flour is fully mixed and set aside.
In a bowl mix the yogurt with the 5 eggs with salt and pepper. Stir until the mixture is homogenous, then add the butter and flour mix and stir until well mixed.
Pour the yogurt onto the lamb mix and spread out evenly, grate nutmeg on top. Bake for 45-60 minutes until the yogurt is brown and puffed up slightly.
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