Qeshqek is a traditional Albanian dish of the Elbasani region, which used to cook mainly for Easter or Christmas. Two main ingredients of this recipe are Wheat And Meat. It also seasoned with butter, creating a much tasty main dish or accompaniment to other meat-based recipes.
This wheat and meat recipe is not difficult to achieve only requires that the steps of implementing the cooking procedure be followed correctly and choose the right ingredients.
How To Cook Qeshqek
The raw wheat used for this recipe needs to beat in the stone mill. The wheat grain is not broken into parts but only beaten, a process similar to crushing, making it cook faster, and releasing starch properly when cooked with meat.
If we can not find the beaten wheat, we must put the raw wheat to sit in cold water for at least 24 hours before cooking.
For cooking Qeshqek, you can use turkey or even beef. Significantly, the meat has boiled very well, before, from which we will get the liquid with which we will cook the wheat, but we will also add the cooked meat separated by hand, finely thread.
We used beef and beef bone juice, which have considerable gelatin and protein, to enable our ingredients to bind rightly and the result to be delicious and nutritious cooking.
Nutritional Value
This dish is full of calories, a combination of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein, and numerous vitamins provided by both wheat and meat. So, 100 g of wheat flour or wheat grains ensures over 20% of our daily values in vitamins, protein, dietary fiber, etc. It is rich in Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B3, manganese, phosphor, magnesium, iron, etc.
Meat is another rich source of proteins, mineral salts, and Vitamin B complex. Beef is rich in vitamins B12, B3, B6, zinc, phosphorus, copper, iron, etc.
Ingredients – 6 Servings
- 500 g of raw wheat
- 600 g of beef pulp, or 1.2 -1.5 kg of veal shank or beef from the shoulder portion
- 1- kg of beef bones
- 100 g butter
- salt
- Olive Oil
Directions
- We will put to boil the meat and beef bones, which we have washed well. We put them in a pot with cold water with a little salt. I use pressure cookers for a better and faster boil.
- In another pot, we will place the wheat, which we have cleaned and washed well, and set the night before in the container with cold water. We will change the water after the first 12-15 hours that we set the wheat. We will boil it together with the water where it stayed after changed the first water. So, we put the wheat to boil well with its water, adding a little more warm water during cooking until the grain starts to crack grains.
- During this time, the meat has also boiled, and after it cools down a bit, we will separate the meat from the juice and prepare the cooked meat for our recipe by cleaning it from the bones and chopping it by hand finely. Drain the meat and bone broth and set aside.
- In the pot where we have the wheat, we will add 2/3 of the amount of butter, and we will stir well so that the whole mass of boiled wheat gets the aroma of butter.
- After a few minutes, add the meat in pieces and stir well. We will start adding the meat broth gradually, similar to the process of cooking risotto. We add salt to the meat broth so that the wheat also gets the salt slowly.
- Add the beef broth and stir continuously until the wheat releases the starch and binds to the meat creating a creamy mass. We will season it with salt if needed, and at the end, before serving it, we will add melted butter. So in a pan, we will add the rest of the butter, melt it and add it to the Qeshqek to season it before serving it to everyone.
Qeshqek must always serve warm. We can consume it the next day but heat it before serving.
Bon Appetit!
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