Main course
Yogurtlija tava
Minced meat and rice under a yoghurt and egg custard that sets into a pale gold crust. An Easter dish.
Recipe from Туѓино Јабано
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 30 min
- Fasting
- Not suitable
Ingredients 10 ingredients
Method
- Sweat the finely chopped onion in the oil until soft, add the minced meat and fry, breaking up the lumps with a fork.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in the paprika, the mint, salt and pepper, then add the washed rice and about 300 ml of hot water.
- Simmer covered over a low heat for about 15 minutes, until the rice is half done. It finishes in the oven, so there is no need to cook it through.
- Transfer to a greased baking dish and level it. Bake at 190 °C for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile whisk the yoghurt, eggs, flour and a pinch of salt into a smooth custard with no lumps.
- Take the dish out, pour the custard evenly over it and return it to the oven for another 25–30 minutes, until set on top and pale gold with brown patches.
- Let it stand for ten minutes before cutting — hot, the custard is soft and the pieces will not lift out whole.
If you cannot find it
Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.
- Thick sheep's yoghurt
- Greek yoghurt at 10 % fat; a thinner yoghurt needs another spoonful of flour.
- Dried mint
- Fresh mint, twice the amount, or dried thyme.
- Mixed minced meat
- All beef, or lamb for a more distinctly Easter flavour.
