I gotta say, I’m pretty much all over the place today. Yesterday it was a down-home dish of Easy Cheesy Chili Mac, and today? Today, I’m going to Bulgaria, in my mind at least, and serving up Bulgarian Cheese Pots!
Bulgarian Cheese Pot – Сирене по шопски в гювече
This is a dish that goes by several names, including Market Cheese or Thracian Clay Pots. I saw it on Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives and couldn’t rest until I gave it a try. I believe the name is Сирене по шопски в гювече, but that was from google translate, and it has done me wrong in the past!
About Bulgarian Cheese Pots:
While this might sound all gourmet, it’s like a five-minute to assemble, and a few minutes to bake kind of thing. Ya gotta love that! And you can have it as a starter or a simple light meal. Ya gotta love that, too!
What we’ve got here is layer on layer of goodness. Layers of tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, green onions, more tomato, all drizzled with olive oil and herbs, and then a good Feta cheese (In Bulgaria, their version of Feta is called Sirene). It’s given a start in the oven.
Then it’s taken out, a layer of sausage added, then topped with an egg and a hot pepper and tossed back in the oven for a bit longer. So simple and so delish. And we (my son was over helping with more yard work – we worked on the side garden, see below) went crazy over it. I even made another one around midnight! I was craving it!
When those little pots come out of the oven all bubbly (the smell alone is heavenly) you’ll dig in and spread it on bread of choice. I’d urge you to try it as is, then come up with variations. I’ve already made a Mexican and a Spanish-style Clay Pot!
Making Bulgarian Cheese Pots
I love that this is hardly cooking at all, just layering ingredients in the right order, popping it in the oven, and once it’s hot and bubbly, adding in the sausage and the egg and cooking for about three to five more minutes.
I don’t have clay pots from Bulgaria (they are so colorful and darling), but have made this in various small casseroles. Ones with a lid are best, but maybe riff if you don’t have any and top a small casserole (individual servings are the way to go – no one will want to share – but do what you must) or oven-proof bowl and cover with heavy-duty foil.
Just make sure whatever you use can handle the heat, or turn down the heat and cook a little longer.
Bulgarian Cheese Pot – Сирене по шопски в гювече
Shout Out to a Local Market:
I took a “road trip” to Minneapolis to grab ingredients from Bill’s Imported Food. I can’t remember the last time I was in the Lyndale/Lake area – not since I was young and kicked around there (and enjoyed some nightlife), so I was psyched.
I found both Bulgarian Feta and the Sausage (the sausage tastes just like our Summer Sausage). The prices were amazing. If you’re not lucky enough to have a European market, look for the softest Feta you can find; maybe French. If you have to buy grocery store Feta, look for the blocks in brine as opposed to the dry crumbles.
Bulgarian Cheese Pot – Сирене по шопски в гювече
Serving:
- Serve as an appetizer, a starter, or maybe even a simple dinner. Or maybe for a brunch dish some weekend. On the deck or patio, if it ever stops raining and warms up.
- While I like it best with some soft pita bread or a baguette to soak up all the juices, this last time I served with pita chips. They worked ok, but I’d not use them again; a softer bread is so much better.
Storing & Reheating:
- The pots, once cooked, will be fine after a few days in the fridge. Just reheat in the microwave for best results.
- They could also be partially made, cooked ahead, reheated in the microwave, then the sausage and egg added after everything is piping hot. To finish, toss in the oven as directed to cook the egg.
Saving Money on Groceries:
I love that, other than the Feta and the sausage (which is almost identical to our Summer Sausage), Bulgarian Cheese Pots are made with everyday ingredients. One spice, savory, may not be in your spice cupboard. It’s considered to be an essential Bulgarian flavor, but there’s a sub in the recipe.
Feta Cheese:
- If you have access to ethnic markets, it’s always worthwhile to stop in and check them out.
- At your grocery, avoid crumbles; the quality’s poor, and they cost around (per pound) twice that of the blocks. Blocks of Feta, stored properly in brine, keep for months.
- Check out my post, What to Know about Feta Cheese. It’s a wealth of info, including how to find it at a great price and how to store.
Sausage:
- This recipe calls for dried sausage, and markets are a great way to find one original to the area. Summer sausage is a cheaper grocery store alternative.
- While most dried sausage is pricy at the grocery, check out Lidl if you have one nearby. There is an assortment to choose from.
Roasted Bell Peppers:
- I never buy the jars, although they’re always very nice. Watch for sales or look for them in the discount bin or shelves. I prefer to watch for sales and pick them up and roast myself, and if I am in a position where I need a save for those in my fridge, I roast and place them in my freezer for later.
- Roasting is easy. Line a tray with foil, cut in peppers in half, and roast skin side up in a 425 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until charred in places and softened. Turn oven off, wrap peppers in the foil they’ve been roasted on, return to oven. Let sit another 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit until cool. Remove from foil. The skins should easily peel off.
Bulgarian Cheese Pot – Сирене по шопски в гювече
Bulgarian Cheese Pot – Сирене по шопски в гювече
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Bulgarian
Ingredients
Double the ingredients for four pots.
- 1 large tomato or equivalent of smaller, cut into 1/2-inch slices
- salt to taste
- 1 bell pepper, roasted and chopped, red preferred
- 1/2 cup finely sliced green onions, plus more for garnish (four or five, white and green parts)
- 3 ounces Bulgarian feta, or the softest Feta you can find
- 2 teaspoons dried savory (sub marjoram or oregano)
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces sliced charcuterie, such as Lukanka, a similar European-style dry-cured pressed sausage, or Summer Sausage
- 2 eggs
- 1 serrano pepper, split the long way
- Pinch fine paprika, Hungarian or Spanish, smoked is nice
- Thinly sliced green onion and finely chopped parsley for garnish
- bread for serving
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 420 degrees F. See note from Teodora, below in comments. If you have an actual Thracian clay pot, make certain it can go in a preheated oven. If not, you’ll want to heat your pot as the oven heats. Just be careful when removing to add the ingredients that you are not placing it on a moist surface which could cause shattering. You may need a slightly shorter cooking time.
Cover the bottom of the clay pot with the tomatoes. Lightly salt. Cover the tomatoes with the bell peppers. Add the scallions, then lightly salt again, then the feta, then the savory and red pepper flakes. Drizzle with the oil. Cover the lid of the pot and bake about 25 minutes.
Remove the pot from the oven and add the charcuterie. Press down in the center and crack the eggs on top of the charcuterie. Place the serrano pepper on top. Cover again and bake until the eggs are soft cooked, about 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the oven and sprinkle with paprika. Garnish with green onion and parsley.
Serve with bread.
=====================
I’ll be linking Bulgarian Cheese Pot – Сирене по шопски в гювече to Fiesta Friday # 281 this week. Stop by and check out the party!
4 thoughts on “Bulgarian Cheese Pots”