Ingredients
- 500g meat cubed (coarsely chopped)
- 2 green peppers
- 2 medium onions
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- water
- salt and black pepper
for Sauce
- 1 glass of flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 glass of strained yogurt
- 1 glass of bone stock (stocks)
- grated nutmeg (optional)
- red smoked powdered pepper (on top)
- sea salt
Where’s Tave Kosi Elbasani Come From?
Tave Kosi (Tavë Elbasani) is a traditional Albanian dish made by baking sautéed or boiled lamb with a yoghurt sauce. It takes its name from the city of Elbasani in Albania. It is also frequently made in Turkish cuisine. Its flavor is legendary. Lets get to it.
Before Starting the Tave Kosi Recipe
Cubed lamb meat is boiled with flavoring ingredients such as onion, bay leaf, black pepper and other aromatics. 1/3 of the lamb is chopped with lint and the remaining meat pieces are left whole. If you want lamb meat, it is roasted with onion, but this time it is used as a whole without being picked.
To cover the lamb meat with sauce on a baking tray, a sauce similar to a béchamel sausage is prepared with strained yogurt. This sauce contains flour, eggs and yogurt. A small amount of lemon, onion and spices are also added. The mixture is cooked on low heat for a while in order to thicken the sauce and remove the flour odor. If the sauce is to be reheated, the egg yolk is added to the sauce and after it thickens, it is slowly fed and heated. The aim is to prevent the egg from solidifying in the sauce in pieces by cooking it before it turns into an omelet. Prepared for bakery dishes instead of yoghurt sauce; béchamel sauce; can also be used.
The meats are covered with sauce and cooked in the oven until they are slightly browned and burnt. It can also be served with a spoon or in small soufflé cups.
Tave Kosi Recipe Preparation
- Butter is added in a large saucepan, the onions are roasted until they turn pink
- Then the meats are added and caramelized for 5 minutes. (If the meat is sautéed, continue from 5)
- If the meat is to be boiled, roast the lamb pieces in a little oil in a pan, then add water, garlic, onion in small pieces, leeks and carrots if desired, and black pepper. It is boiled for 25 minutes.
- The meat is drained. Set aside 1 cup of water and cool it (to be used for sauce)
- The seeds are removed and the chopped peppers are turned in a pan, then the onion and the meat are added.
- After roasting, add fresh thyme and chopped garlic. Roast for 1 minute.
- In a pan, roast with flour and oil, cool, then add egg yolk and yogurt, mix with a whisk.
- If you boiled your meat, you can add some of the cooled broth to the sauce. . Keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency.
- Then you can put the meats in a large oven dish or in soufflé containers if you are going to serve them individually. Pour the prepared sauce on it so that it covers the meat. The consistency of the sauce should be neither too liquid nor too solid. The sauce should remain on the meats.
- Sprinkle with smoked paprika or regular ground pepper as the finishing touch.
- Bake in 356°F (180°C) oven for 18-20 minutes until it is browned and even some pieces are burnt.
- Serve hot. Bon a Petit!
