Ingredients
- 5 Roasted & Diced Red Bell PeppersYou can used canned, 320g drained weight
- 1 Diced Onions
- 150g Feta CheeseYou can use any salted white cheese
- 400g Diced TomatoesYou can use a tin of diced or chopped tomatoes in replace of fresh
- 1 Tsp Chilli Flakes
- 20g Flour
- 20g Butter
- 40g Greek Yogurt
- 2 Tbsp Basil
- Pepper
- Salt
- Olive Oil
Directions
Albanian Fergese is one of Albania’s national dishes and what I love most about it is that it can be widely adapted. I have come to know that there seems to be two versions of the dish – Fergesë e Tiranës me piperka (Made with Peppers) and Fergese me melçi (made with Liver).
Fergesë e Tiranës me piperka is a vegetarian dish that is more often served as a side where as Fergese me melçi (or Tave Dheu as we call it in the north) is a main meal.
This is a great recipe that allows me to get out my clay dishes and bake the same way you would back in Albania.
I have added a Tave Dheu recipe, but for now, enjoy this dish as it is becoming one of our favourites!
This recipe is best cooked in clay dishes, 15cm by 5cm deep. It gives it a natural authentic taste and looks good too!
Tip: You can add chicken liver to this Albanian fergese dish, you will need 400g – 500g, diced and browned. Mix it into the final mixture before separating into bowls and put in the oven.
Steps
1 Done | Prepare the Pepper MixSweat the onion in a small drop of olive oil until softened - about 3 minutes, then remove and set aside. |
2 Done | Simmer the red bell peppers, tomatoes and basil on a medium to high heat for 10 minutes - the mixture should have thickened with little liquid remaining. Mix in the onion and set aside to cool. |
3 Done | Prepare the Cheese MixIn a separate small saucepan melt the butter. Mix in the flour to form a roux. Crumble in the feta while stirring quickly. Once all has melted, you should have a thick texture - add the yogurt. |
4 Done | Prepare the Fergese for cookingMix the feta and yogurt mixture into it into the pepper and tomatoes mixture. Season with the Chilli flakes, salt and pepper. |
5 Done | CookingSplit into 2 dishes and cook on 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Leave to cool slightly before serving - best served with crusty bread. |
11 Comments Hide Comments
This was delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe
So glad you liked it 🙂
If you like to eat meat dishes too, then ensure you try Albanian Tave Dheu. It’s a similar dish but has meat in the dish too. https://www.myalbanianfood.com/recipe/albanian-tave-dheu/
Enjoy!
So crazy how the ingredients and cooking techniques can be so drastically different depending on family methods not only a persons region. I look forward to testing your style out. My husband is a chef and loves my “Albanian Food” but being a chef he decided to YouTube it! Lol like I use leeks not leeks and vegeta when I can find it here in dallas. And we slow-low cook it for a couple hours until the meat starts to melt. Anyway thank you I’m going to start comparing all our dishes now. I’m so intrigued!
Hi Rozi, I would love to know the outcomes 🙂
I’m sure this tastes great but, unless this is an adaptation from another area of Albania or Kosovo, this is not traditional Fergese. As I have experienced it (my husbands side of the family is all Albanian) Fergese has no roux or even flour in it. It is mostly comprised of the bell peppers and tomatoes, with some sliced cloves of garlic and olive oil, perhaps even some onion. It is so hard to find a true Albanian recipe (my mother in law is pretty tight lipped about her methods so I’ve had to use this website and adapt from here to make it taste like my mother in laws food because her cooking is to die for. I have done this with Fasule and will probably do it with the Fergese.) Thank you for at least giving me a base to work off of
Hi Luci, thanks you so much for reaching out. I have found that different villages (as well as towns / cities) make the recipes slightly differently. This is one of the reasons I started the website so that I can capture my husbands city and villages recipes. Also, i find different generations are adapting them too – I love the original taste of my relatives dishes, i don’t want that to get lost. I’m so glad it gives you a starting point, i agree it’s hard to find true recipe originals.
Next time you do it, don’t use yogurt, flour and feta cheese.
In Albania it’s done with farmers cheese, you can find it in America too.
How can I adjust this heat and cooking time if I don’t have any clay pots? Like if I poured it into a large ovenproof pot? I’m not a big baker so I’m not sure
I’ve not made this before in a overproof pot only my clay ones. However, if your overproof dish is a cermaic one then i would recommend keeping to the same cooking method.
Hi,
I am enjoying the ferghese made using your recipe right now! I only used fresh Turkish cheese, which is crumbly and less salty than feta. I didn’t have a clay pot but the dish came out fine in a cast iron pot. Just one question – is there some other meat one could put in ferghese? My husband sadly doesn’t like chicken liver.
Hello, i’ve used diced lamb before.