Considered the national dish of Macedonia, Tavče Gravče is a simple, basic recipe that has been customized in many of the Balkan countries. I followed the recipe from Macedonian Food, Cuisine and Recipes.
Though the dish is traditionally made in a terracotta pot, I only served it on one, with a couple of slices of toasted bread for dinner. I used canned cannelloni beans and it made for fast cooking. Sauté one small chopped onion and a clove of minced garlic in a tsp of olive oil, add a small chopped tomato and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the beans with some water, season with salt, pepper and some paprika. I also added some chopped mint. Cook for a few minutes. Transfer into a baking dish (I used a pan that can go from the stove to the oven :) ) Bake for about 10-15 minutes, till the liquid is used up and a thin crust is formed. The dish reminded me of the Tunisian Lablabi, with a garlicky flavor. A perfect week night dinner!
I am sending this to My Legume Love Affair 22 hosted by Ruchikacooks. The event was started by Susan of the The Well-Seasoned Cook.
WOW! I was very happy to see Tavche Gravche!!!! I am Macedonian and I have the dish ( every Friday - that's like tradition :))... This is almost like the original way of making ( every house has it's "own" way) so, great! I hope that you've been to Macedonia - how do you know this ;)... I haven't meet anyone in this area knowing about Tavche Gravche :)
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for the comment. I am glad you consider what I made the original way. I followed a blog on Macedonian cuisine. I haven't been to Macedonia, but may be one day...
ReplyDeleteAre you with the University in Madison? I am a post-doc in biology here.
Bala, thanks for the entry. Tavce Gravce looks wonderful with the beans and the mint!
ReplyDeleteAlso--I just moved from Madison last year and miss it all the time! :)
ReplyDeleteHi there! I found your blog through The Daring Kitchen. I'm doing a "50 Countries, 1 Year" challenge on my blog, so I'm very excited to poke around your wealth of worldly recipes. :)
ReplyDelete@Heather, Hi! Thanks for the comment and Good Luck on your challenge. I have bookmarked a couple of your recipes when I hit those countries. Madison is good and we like it :)
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