May: Fergese
Serves 4
Estimated time for preparation and cooking: 1 hour
This is a traditional Albanian dish that a young woman was eager to share with the young people in our Croydon Advice and Support Hub. She felt it was a way to connect to her home as well as thank those around her. There is a meat and vegetarian version of the dish, though she decided to create the vegetarian option with lots of red and green peppers!
Ingredients
3 green bell peppers
3 red bell peppers
One red chilli or chilli flakes
3 large cloves of garlic
1 medium-sized red onion
100 ml olive oil
700g cottage cheese
Ground black pepper
Salt
1 can of chopped tomatoes (or use 3 large fresh tomatoes)
Basil
Recipe
1) Preparing your ingredients
a) Remove the stalk and seeds from the bell peppers before slicing them into long, thin pieces (or large square pieces, depending on your preference).
b) Mince or chop the garlic into small pieces.
c) Slice and halve the red onion.
d) Chop red chilli into small pieces (optional).
e) Chop fresh tomatoes into small pieces (or use your chopped tomatoes).
2) Frying the ingredients
a) Bring a pot to the stove and add around 100ml of olive oil before bringing to a medium heat. Once simmering, add your chopped bell peppers, red onions and fresh tomatoes (or canned chopped tomatoes).
b) Leave to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
c) After 30 minutes, you should see that the tomatoes and peppers have turned soft and the excess water from the ingredients has been released.
d) Add cottage cheese (around 700 grams) and mix in.
e) Add minced garlic, black pepper, salt and chopped red chillies (or chilli flakes) and mix in.
f) Leave to boil for another 10 minutes on a low heat. This should make the sauce creamy.
5) Plate up!
Garnish the fergese with basil leaves and eat with bread or on its own.