Globecooking recipe : Güveç (Turkey)

This is a recipe that I ripped out of the free paper that we were given on arriving at the airport in Turkey a few years ago. I typed it up and and it's been languishing in my drafts folder ever since ! I've taken a few liberties because the name Güveç comes from the little bowls that it is traditionally cooked in in the oven, but I adapted mine for the slow cooker. It bubbled away happily all by itself all afternoon, but that does mean that you get no step-by-step photos and I totally forgot to take a picture of the final dish once plated up - sorry !

That wasn't the only liberty I took though. When I went to get some stewing beef out of the freezer, there wasn't any left, so I used a pack of pork instead, which obviously isn't authentic, as Turkey is a Muslim country. To be honest, this is a hearty casserole-type dish that would work with pretty much any combination of meat and vegetables.

Here's the original recipe, as in the magazine. I'll add my personal notes and tweaks at the end.

Güveç

ingredients :

500g lamb or beef

4 onions

3 green peppers

3 large carrots

1 large aubergine

100g peas

500g ripe tomatoes

3 large potatoes

fresh spices (pepper, paprika, thyme, cumin and salt)

olive oil

 tomato puree

0.5-0.75l water

Dice the meat and put it in a bowl. (Guveç means clay bowl.) Peel the onion and potato, dice them too and add to the bowl.

Wash the tomatoes, peppers, carrots and aubergine. Dice them and add to the other ingredients. Add the peas.

Combine the pepper, paprika, thyme, cumin and salt. Mix well and spoon into the little güveç bowl.

Mix the oil, tomato puree and a little water and pour over the food. Put the güveç in a bowl with lots of water then put it in the oven.

Cook for about 60 minutes at 200°.

*********************

I loaded the meat, onions, potatoes, carrots, red peppers and a can of potatoes into the slow cooker, along with salt, pepper and the spices. I left out the aubergine because I'm not keen on them. I put it on low and let it cook for 4 hours.

After this time, I added some courgettes (to replace the aubergine), the remains of a can of peas and carrots from lunchtime, the tomato puree and, after tasting, some extra spices. I let it bubble away for another hour or two (an hour plus an hour "keep warm" time). At the last minute, I stirred through a couple of spoonfuls of gravy granules to thicken up the sauce.

Halfway between a soup and a stew, it was perfect on a cold, autumnal day.

*** Don't miss my country-by-country globecooking recipe index ! ***

Fancy trying some more Turkish cuisine? How about some of the following ?:

Baklava
Chicken Tava
Deep Fried Ice Cream
Gözleme
Kofte
Menemen
Pide - Turkish Pizza
Turkish-inspired Salmon with Pomegranate Molasses & Sumac

Adding to the #KitchenClearout linky as it used up all the odds and ends of veg from the fridge, as well as half a can of peas and carrots from lunch.