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Fërgesë
Tirana-style baked peppers and tomatoes with fresh curd cheese (fërgesë me speca)
Fërgesë is the dish people in Tirana order at lunchtime in a small clay pot, still bubbling, with a basket of bread for dipping. Soft fried peppers and tomatoes are folded through gjizë, Albania's fresh salted curd cheese, then baked until the top spots golden. The meatless version with peppers is the everyday one across central Albania; it is rich, tangy and gently spicy. Ricotta mixed with a little feta is a good stand-in for gjizë outside Albania. Chef's tip: cook the tomatoes down until thick before the cheese goes in; a watery fërgesë that splits in the oven is the usual mistake.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 400°F. Melt 1 oz butter with 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat and cook 1 onion until soft and pale gold.
6 minStep 2: Add 2 red peppers and 2 green peppers and fry, stirring, until they are floppy and catching brown at the edges.
10 minStep 3: Stir in 2 cloves garlic for 30 seconds, then add 4 ripe tomatoes and ½ tsp dried chilli flakes. Simmer until the sauce is thick and no longer watery, and a spoon drawn through it leaves a gap, about 8 minutes.
8 minStep 4: Mash 10 ½ oz gjizë or ricotta and 3 ½ oz feta together with ½ tsp black pepper. Take the pan off the heat and fold the cheese through the vegetables, leaving a few white streaks. Taste before adding ½ tsp salt, as feta varies a lot.
Step 5: Spread in a small clay or ovenproof dish and bake until bubbling at the sides and freckled golden on top, about 12 minutes. Serve hot with plenty of bread.
12 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 15 g
- Carbs
- 15 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does fërgesë take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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