Selska Tava

After a trip to Macedonia last year and enjoying some traditional clay pot stews I never did get around to trying to recreate them at home. Until recently when at a local film society meeting we watched a Macedonian film and was served a vegetarian version of Selska Tava (Country Stew). It usually has pork but leave out the meat and you still have a tasty dish.

The ingredients calls for dried peppers, a very common ingredient all over the Balkans. I used dried Mexican Ancho peppers because that's all I could find. They worked really well, however.

Ingredients

serves 4

300g button mushrooms 
300g large flat mushrooms
300g shitake mushrooms
1 kg onion
6-7 large dried red peppers 
4 red bell peppers
400ml white wine
1 tbsp veg bouillion powder
250g grated cheese
50g fresh parsley, roughly chopped
100ml olive oil
black pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and warm up a traditional Macedonian clay pot, or failing that use a large casserole dish with a lid. 

In a large frying heat the olive oil on a medium to high temperature. Add the onions and fry for a few minutes to soften. Then add the mushrooms, red peppers and dried peppers to the pan. Cook until the mushrooms soften. 

Add half the parsley and season with a pinch of salt, pepper and the vegetable seasoning. Taste and adjust if needed.

Add the wine and stir well. 

Pour everything into the clay pot. Cover with tight fitting aluminium and then a lid. 

Cook in the oven for at least two hours. 

Remove the the lid and foil and check how much liquid is left. Continue to cook for up to another half an hour without a lid to evaporate most of the fluid.

Finally, pour the reduced onion, pepper and mushroom stew into warm individual clay bowls and top with grated cheese.

Pop it back into the oven for another 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and began to colour golden brown.

Leave to rest for five minutes before serving. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley.

Serve with crusty bread.