Aida's Bosnian Kitchen

"Tarhana” - Traditional Bosnian Soup

Ingredients

  • 100g soup noodles
  • 1ltr Water
  • 2 x carrots (shredded)
  • 1tbsp Vegeta (or vegetable stock)
  • Black pepper
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • Tomato puree
  • Chopped parsley

Method

Boil water and add a dash of oil, Vegeta or vegetable stock, black pepper, noodles, shredded carrots and tomato puree and season all to taste.

Stir well. Let the soup simmer for 10-15 minutes.

The good thing about Tarhana is that you cannot overcook it!

Stir occasionally as the noodles tend to stick to the bottom. The noodles will thicken the soup. If it’s too thick for your taste, you can always add a little water.

Serve garnished with fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!

Chicken Wings and Potatoes

Ingredients

  • chicken wings (cut in half)
  • potatoes
  • Vegeta
  • Black pepper
  • Garlic
  • Smoked paprika

Method

First, peel and chop potatoes down to small cubes, then boil.


While potatoes are cooking away, heat the pan with a bit of oil to cover the bottom, then add chicken wings (cut them in half for faster cooking) then fry them until golden brown, the total cooking time should be approx. 20-30. 

5-10 minutes before they are done, season with Vegeta, smoked paprika and pepper. Chicken should be fried until golden and sticky.


Once the potatoes are boiled, drain and let the steam out, then put them in a hot pan covered with a bit of oil, season with Vegeta and pepper (garlic if you like it) and fry them in the oil you previously friend your chicken in.


Do this for several minutes stirring at all times and serve the chicken and potatoes together.

Zeljanica – cheese and spinach pie

Ingredients

  • 1 large bag of spinach
  • 300 g cottage cheese
  • 3 eggs
  • 200g sour cream
  • 200g feta cheese, cut into small crumbles
  • Small bunch of spring onions (sliced)
  • 1 pack filo pastry
  • oil and water

Method

Wash spinach, and drain it well. Then put the spinach into a large bowl and add all the other ingredients. 

Take the filo pastry out of a packet, grease the pan and layer it with the mixture and two sheets of filo pastry, oil each time and add another layer. Make sure you spread the mixture to all corner and leave two sheets to cover the pie on the end.


Once all pastry and mixture have been used up, oil it, and pierce the pie with knife in several places and put into preheated over 250 Celsius for about 15 minutes.


Once backed (golden brown colour) take out of the oven and pour some boiling water to the corners of the pie. This pie can be served hot or cold.

Bosnian Apple Pie

Ingredients

  • 8 – 9 Apples (sour kind is the best)
  • 1 pack of Filo pastry
  • 3 tbsp Cinnamon
  • 1 kg Sugar
  • 1 lt Water
  • Cooking oil

Method

First, put 1 kg of sugar into a 1lt of water and boil until it turns into syrup (doesn’t have to be too thick) (quantities depend on the size of the pie, this is a measure for a pan size 28-30).


While sugar and water are cooking away, peel and shred the apples. Once shredded combine them with some cinnamon.


Take the filo pastry out of the packet and layer the pan with two sheets of filo pastry and apple mix, oil it and keep up until all ingredients are used up.


Make sure you leave two best sheets for the top of the pie. Once finished, cut up the pie, oil well on the top and sprinkle some granulated sugar.


Bake in preheated oven on 250 degrees Celsius for about 15-30 minutes (until golden brown) and pour with hot syrup once you take it out of the oven. Do it slowly allowing the pastry to soak up the syrup. This apple pie is best left overnight to cool well.