Baklava

Baklava is one of the traditional pastries of the Kosovar cuisine, although of Turkish origin...

Ingredients

• 5 eggs – 1 full egg and 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup of cooking oil
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 midrange spoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 500 gr of flour
• 400 gr of crushed walnuts
• 200 – 300 gr butter
• The Syrup
• 2 jars with sugar about 1.2 kg
• 2 jars with water

 

Preparation

Baklava is one of the traditional pastries of the Kosovar cuisine. Although of Turkish origin, baklava’s preparation and recipe is a small heritage that is passed on generation to generation in Kosovo as well. There are a few different ways of making baklava, (varying from the way it’s rolled) or what kind of nuts and fruits it contains.

To prepare it, initially you have to prepare the dough. The dough consists of eggs, cooking oil, milk and flour. Mix them all together and leave the dough covered with a kitchen napkin for a couple of hours.

After a few hours take the dough and divide into 50 very small pieces (almost as big as an egg yolk).
Take 10 dough pieces and flatten them one by one with starch. After that take the 10 pieces and put them on top of each other after putting a bit of starch between each other. After that flatten the dough to fit the baking pan. Put the crushed walnuts on top of the dough and roll the whole patty like a strudle. Take the rolled patty and put it on the pan. Repeat the same with the other dough pieces that are left.

After you’ve put all the rolls in the baking pan cut the rolls diagonally. After you’ve cut the rolls pour the melted butter on top of them slowly.

Finally put the baklava in the warm stove and bake it for 2-3 hours at 150 C.

The Syrup

Boil the water about 30 minutes mixed with the sugar until the syrup starts getting dense. The Baklava should be cooled down before you put on the hot syrup on top.
Finally leave the baklava to cool down before serving it.

Bakllasarëm

A salty pie with yoghurt and garlic covering.

Ingredients

• 1kg flour
• 500 ml water
• 1 + 1 spoon salt
• 1dl vegetable oil
• 150 gr butter
• 1l yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves

Preparation

The pie dough consisting of water, 1 spoon of salt and flour is cut into 18 pieces. The dough pieces are rolled and flattened and each three of them are placed on top of each other, sparkled with a tablespoon of oil. The six patties are flattened further to the size of the baking pan. The patties are sparkled with 2 tablespoons of oil and are rolled in circle and put in the pan. The pie has to be left to bake for 50 min in 200 C.

Add to the natural yoghurt a tablespoon of salt and 1-2 garlic cloves. The salted youghurt is put on top of the freshly baked pie, which is put in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Green Beans

A traditional way of preparing green beans with minced meat...

Ingredients

• 1 kg green beans
• 400 gr minced meat
• 1 onion
• 1 pepper
• 2 tomatoes
• Cooking oil or butter
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Red Flake Pepper

Preparation

Fry the minced meat with onions and the pepper, then add the minced green beans. Time after time add a glass of water in the frying pan or pot (3 cups in total). Take two tomatoes, initially skin them and then cut them into very small pieces. Add the tomatoes to the green beans and the meat. After you left the beans to cook for an hour add the tomatoes and leave the pot to cook for 30 more minutes on a low temperature.

Varying from your taste you can put the beans in the oven and bake them for a while.

Pumpkin Pie

A delicious and traditional way of making pumpkin pie...

Ingredients

• 1 pumpkin for pies (green)
• 1 kg flour
• 0.5 L water
• 1 glass of cooking oil
• 1 glass of melted butter
• 1 glass of cream
• 1 glass of sugar

Preparation

The dough consisting of flour, water and 1 tablespoon of salt is separated in 15 pieces. The pieces are flattened to fit the size of the baking pan. The flattened pieces are put on top of each other to create one single patty. The patty is then widened a bit more, expanding 10 centimeters more than the size of the baking pan. First, the baking pan must be covered with a bit of butter or margarine. After that the dough patty is put on the baking pan.

Before you put the green pumpin on top of the patty you need to prepare it. You need to scrape the pumpkin with a tablespoon and then grind it. After that, the pumpkin needs to be left to drain for a while and then you ca mix it with sugar and a little bit of salt (varying from personal preferences). Finally the pumpkin is put on the patty, the edges of which will cover most of the pumpkin but will leave some in the middle uncovered.

The pumpkin pie is usually served with fried peppers or with cold milk.

Flija with saç

Flija made with “saç” is a specialty from the traditional Albanian cuisine, that is mostly prepared in mountainous areas. It is most certainly one of the typical Kosovar dishes that everyone local will recommend.

Ingredients

Batter:

• 3 kg flour
• 2 Litres water
• 2 spoons of salt

Extra:

• 2 jars of cream cheese

Preparation

Flija made with “saç” is a specialty from the traditional Albanian cuisine, that is mostly prepared in mountainous areas. It is most certainly one of the typical Kosovar dishes that everyone local will recommend. Flija could be considered a pie, however, mostly it is plain and is layered like a pack of pancakes (crepes). It is baked with cinders: the batter put on a pie-pan is covered with a “saç”- a metal dome over which hot cinders are placed to bake the dough.

The saç (the lid) warmed on cinders, is put on the pie-pan which contains the layered batter of the flija. While you’re preparing the batter you’ll notice it looks much like pancake or crepes batter. After pouring each layer on the pie-pan you coat the layer with melted cream cheese and bake it individually under the saç. The process is long, but the results are delicious!

Flija is served with sour milk or yoghurt, pickled vegetables, cheese, honey, jam or ajvar (a spicy homemade spread).

Dip with peppers

Learn how to make a traditional hot dip with peppers.

Ingredients

5-6 peppers
2 L milk
Salt

Preparation

A delicious way to spice up your lunch or dinner is to make an appetizer, and this traditional dip might be just the answer. With a very easy to follow recipe, “lëng me speca” (lit. dip with peppers) is a typical Kosovar appetizer. This spicy dip is served with bread (traditionally, but chips are also an option).

Firstly you need to roast the peppers and then put salt on them. After that you have to put them in a jar (with a capacity of 2-3 L).

Boil the milk and then let it cool down. Mix the milk with 2-3 tablespoons of salt. After the milk has cooled down pour it in the jar. Close the jar and let it ferment for a couple of days (3-4 days). After the milk is fermented the dip is ready to be served.

Usually the lëng is served with llokuma (local variation of donuts), pogaçe (a traditional form of bread), fresh hot bread in a combo with white cheese, tomatoes and other fresh vegetables.

The dip with peppers is supposed to be piquant, depending on the kind of peppers you use.