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Albanian · Balkan

Fërgesë (peppers, tomatoes and cheese)

Vegetarian

Fërgesë e Tiranës

A bubbling, scoopable bake of roasted peppers and tomatoes melted together with salty white cheese and fresh curd cheese. Served hot from its clay dish with bread.

Fërgesë (peppers, tomatoes and cheese) is an Albanian starter, ready in about 1 hour 10 minutes and made with red bell pepper, tomato and feta. It serves 6 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Pan of fërgesë, peppers and tomatoes baked with cheese, garnished with parsley
Photo: Rrezjaediellit / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
50 min
Total
1 h 10 min
Serves
6
Level
Easy
Calories
259

Ingredients

6 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Roast the peppers (opens in a new tab) (and chilli) under a hot grill or at 230 °C, turning, until blackened all over, about 20 minutes. Cover for 10 minutes, then peel, seed and chop.

    Food cooking over a grill
    How it looks · Photo: Malte Luk on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Warm the oil and butter (opens in a new tab) in a pan and soften the onion (opens in a new tab) for 6 minutes. Add the garlic (opens in a new tab) and tomatoes (opens in a new tab) and cook until thick, about 10 minutes.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Stir in the peppers (opens in a new tab), both cheeses, salt, pepper and oregano (opens in a new tab) and cook a few minutes until creamy.

    • 4 min
    • low heat

  4. Step 4

    Spread in a small clay or baking dish (opens in a new tab) and bake at 200 °C for 10–15 minutes until bubbling and lightly browned. Serve hot with bread.

About this dish

Origin
Tirana, Albania · Well documentedSome versions add liver or meat; the pepper-and-cheese version is the most common.Also popular in North MacedoniaMore food from Albania
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Brunch · Appetizers & starters · Dips & spreads · Side dishes
Cooking method
Roasted, Oven-baked, Sautéed
Taste
creamy, salty, savoury, smoky
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients · Low-carb
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb
Without the optional extras: Whole-food focused, No gluten ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Make-ahead
Cook more with
Red bell pepper · Tomato · Feta · Butter · Onion · Garlic
Techniques
Roasting · Baking · Broiling · Sautéing

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom butter, feta, gjizë (albanian curd cheese)
  • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom crusty bread / baguette
  • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom crusty bread / baguette
  • May contain: Sesamefrom crusty bread / baguette

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

259 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 256 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 14%
  • Carbohydrate 21%
  • Fat 66%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy259 kcal101 kcal
Protein9.1 g3.6 g
Carbohydrate14 g5.5 g
Net carbohydrate10.9 g4.3 g
Sugars6.4 g2.5 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre3.1 g1.2 g
Fat19.5 g7.6 g
Saturated fat9.8 g3.8 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol57 mg22 mg
Sodium554 mg216 mg
Salt equivalent1.4 g0.5 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
489 mg
Calcium
257 mg
Iron
1 mg
Magnesium
34 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
275 µg
Vitamin C
115 mg
Vitamin D
0.2 µg
Vitamin B12
0.9 µg
Folate (DFE)
65 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: green chilli, crusty bread / baguette.
  • Gjizë (Albanian curd cheese): Whole-milk ricotta used as a stand-in; gjizë is a similar whey/curd cheese, usually saltier and drier.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Jarred roasted peppers make this a 30-minute dish.

Common mistakes

  • Boiling the cheese mixture hard on the hob makes it grainy — keep the heat low.

Storage

  • Refrigerate up to 3 days.

Reheating

  • Reheat in the oven until bubbling.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 3, 4

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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