Fërgesë me mëlçi - Traditional Albanian Liver Cassarole of Tirana and Central-Albany

I have always loved all the dishes with liver. Since my childhood, which is not a big surpise, as pork and beef liver contains most of the minerals and vitamins that we need to function properly.*

In fact, when I asked for it, my Mum always prepared for me a very special liver schnitzel that only she could do the way it has to be done, obviously. I will tell about it next time.

As soon as I heard about auntie Zamira's flavourful cassarole, I felt like cooking it all by myself. Since my goal is to prepare all the dishes in the most authentic way possible, I used an albanian lady's recipe found on an albanian recipe channel**. I worked really hard, I translated everything: the ingredients, methods and the timing, too. I changed it a little bit, as always, but just a tiny little bit. I strictly used cottage cheese/ricotta. I saw some recipes with feta cheese, but I pefer to follow this nice albanian lady's intructions.

It is cooked on the stove then in the oven, so you may use a pan that you can put also in the oven or divide between cheramic plates and then put fërgesë in the oven.

If you don't have these possibilities, it is perfectly fine, just cook for about 10 minutes more than indicated.

Ingredients:

olive oil

500 g pork or beef liver

500 g cottage cheese/ricotta

220 g peeled tomatos

200-300 ml water

5 tablespoons tomato sauce (or a whole jar if you want to make it sour)

1 big onion or 2 small/medium onions

a clove of garlic

1 bell pepper

origan

chili flakes

pepper

salt

Preparation:

Cut the onions crosswise.

Crush the garlic clove lightly with the flat of a knife.

Thinly slice the bell pepper into 3-5 cm long strips.

Peel and quarter the tomatoes.

Chop the liver in 3-4 cm cubes.

Sauté the garlic clove for about 1 minute. Be careful not to burn it. Remove the garlic.

Frizzle the onions in the same oil. Add a little bit of salt.

When the onions are golden, add the bell pepper strips, combine well and cook until the bell pepper strips are just tender.

Add the liver cubes, then fry until juice comes out.

At this point, throw in the garlic sautéed before, followed by the peeled tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes.

Now, stir in the cottege cheese/ricotta.

When the cottage cheese is melt and well combined with the ingredients, pour in 200-300 ml water, add 5 tablespoons of tomato sauce (or 1 jar).

In the original recipe the lady pinches the salt over the rough liver cubes, but rough liver tends to become tough when in direct contact with salt. It is not very pleasant and really ruins the dish. So add salt at this point, then add also pepper, origan and chili flakes.

Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

When time is up, have a taste and season to perfection with salt. Then put the fërgesë in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the surface becomes a little bit crusty.

* Béres, Vitamin Alphabet, https://www.beres.hu/hatoanyag-abc/vitamin-abc/, 15/05/2023.

**receipt based on Receta Gatimi Shqiptare, Fërgesë me mëlçi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0cTGSO2XcI, 15/05/2023.