Tave kosi recipe

Garlic and oregano lamb buried under a yogurt and egg custard stabilised with a butter roux so it puffs instead of splitting.

3 hours and 5 minutesmedium10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1000 g lamb shoulder
• 600 g plain yogurt
• 4 eggs
• 100 g butter
• 60 g plain flour
• 100 g rice
• 3 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

How to make Tave kosi

1. Brown 1 kg of lamb shoulder, cut into large cubes, in 100 g of butter and season with salt and pepper. There is no onion in tavë kosi; it is built on garlic and oregano.
2. Add 3 chopped garlic cloves and 1 tbsp of dried oregano, pour in 300 ml of water, cover and simmer 1 h 30 until the meat gives way. Keep the broth.
3. Cook 100 g of rice in that broth until just short of done, then spread the meat and rice in a buttered baking dish.
4. Melt the remaining 100 g of butter, whisk in 60 g of flour and cook the roux 2 minutes without letting it colour. This is the step that stops the yogurt splitting in the oven.
5. Off the heat, whisk 4 eggs into 600 g of yogurt, then beat the warm roux into them slowly so nothing scrambles.
6. Pour the mixture over the lamb and rice so it covers everything to the edges.
7. Bake at 180 °C for 45 minutes, until the top is set like a custard, puffed and browned in patches.
8. Let it stand 15 minutes before cutting so it firms up.

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