My late grandmother instilled a love of food in me, because when I was a child in Bulgaria, I was always in the kitchen “helping”. She used to chase me around the house with pepper dolmas for my mandatory afternoon snack (dare you skip it, your development as a wholesome human being was in jeopardy). On my visits home, my mother now greets me with her green bean stew that sits proudly among the pantheon of culinary divinities such as meatballs with tomato sauce, moussaka and, of course, dolmas and sarmas.
Green bean plakiya with roast garlic (pictured top)
My mother swears that this extremely easy and delicious dish preserves all the flavour in each vegetable. Plakiya is a style of cooking in which vegetables are sliced, layered, roasted and served at room temperature; it also involves a good amount of garlic. Pick out the cloves as you go, or squeeze them all over the finished dish. I always have yoghurt on the side.
Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
500g green beans
1½ heads garlic
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
4-5 medium tomatoes
1 handful parsley
Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. Roughly chop the beans and half-head of garlic, put them in a bowl with half the oil, a teaspoon of salt and the black pepper, and stir to coat. Cut the tomatoes along the equator into 1cm-thick slices.
Arrange a layer of tomatoes in a 22cm ovenproof dish, scatter over a little salt, top with a layer of the bean mix, and repeat, finishing with a layer of tomatoes.
Cut the top off the whole garlic bulb to expose the cloves, and push this into the middle of the tomato and bean stack, so it sits level with the top, then drizzle over the remaining oil. Cover the dish with a lid or foil, roast for 20 minutes, then uncover and roast for 25 minutes more. Remove, leave to cool to room temperature, then serve topped with chopped parsley.
Fresh pepper dolma
This salad-like dolma is a refined version of my grandma’s dish that combines seasonal herbs with whatever is to hand – nuts, pickles, preserves – all folded into moreish feta and butter, and stuffed into peppers. As a rule, I use a mixture of herbs such as dill, parsley, oregano and thyme; nuts or seeds (it works well with pumpkin seeds, for example) for bite; and a pickle such as preserved lemon or capers for a sharp cut-through; use up the pickle seasoning that sits at the bottom of the jar, too. Selecting multi-coloured peppers here makes for a criminally attractive dish. And experiment with different white brined cheese – buffalo, sheep’s or goat’s cheese.
Prep 10 min
Serves 4
2-3 medium-sized long peppers (bell peppers aren’t really suitable here due to their large diameter)
25g walnuts halves, finely chopped
1 handful each parsley and dill leaves, finely chopped
The rind from ½ preserved lemon
100g feta, crumbled
50g butter, at room temperature
Pickled red onions, to serve
Fennel fronds, to serve
Olive oil, to serve
Cut the tops off the peppers, then scoop out and discard the pith and seeds; tap out any stubborn ones. In a small bowl, mix the walnuts, herbs, preserved lemon rind, feta and butter, then use a small spoon to stuff the mix into each pepper.
Cut the stuffed peppers into ½cm-thick rounds (if it’s a warm day, put them in the fridge for a few minutes to cool down first, which really helps with the slicing). Arrange the pepper rings on a platter, top with the pickled onion, fennel and some of the grit from your pickle jars, if you like, finish with plenty of olive oil and serve.
Aleksandar Taralezhkov is a Balkan cook and food writer.
