Bulgarian Shopski Style White Cheese is a dish, typical for the region around Sofia, but it is also prepared in the other parts of the country. ‘Shopski’ signifies that something is done the way the ‘shopi’, an ethnographic group of people from the Western part of Bulgaria, do it.

Cheese the Shopski Way (Сирене по шопски) is one of the most traditional dishes in Bulgaria. It is simple, very tasty and its the perfect dish for the lovers of Feta cheese.

Ingredients:

• 250 g white cheese,
• 20 g butter,
• 1 egg,
• 1 tomato,
• 1 hot pepper.

For preparing Shopski Style White Cheese there is one important condition – the dish must be baked in a small clay pot, which holds one portion – an earthenware pot which in Bulgaria is called “gyuveche”.

Slice the cheese and tomato. At the bottom of a clay pot put one layer of cheese. Then arrange tomatoes. Put one more layer of cheese. Put one more layer of tomatoes. Add a raw egg and a hot pepper on top. Add fat of choice to the dish and put it in the oven for about 20 min. The cheese is served hot, and it can be seasoned additionally by savory or another aromatic spice.