A two-layer tomato and onion pie for the home oven
Lakror me qepë dhe domate encloses a tomato-and-onion filling between thin pastry layers. Traditional preparations can use a saç, a metal baking cover heated with embers. This is a conventional-oven adaptation. The source photograph shows the dish, not a test of these oven settings.
- Prep
- 30 mins
- Cook
- 1 hour 5 mins
- Rest
- 40 mins
- Total
- 1 hour 45 mins
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Cuisine
- Albanian
The recipe
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Before you start
Use a 36 cm round metal baking tin. The 30-minute dough rest overlaps with cooking the filling; total elapsed time accounts for this. Heat a conventional oven to 220°C before assembling.
Ingredients
Quantities change with servings; cooking times stay the same.
Equipment
- Round metal baking tin, 36 cm paid link
- rolling pin paid link
- wide frying pan paid link
- mixing bowl paid link
- pastry brush paid link
- kitchen scale paid link
Method
Mix the dough flour, water, dough oil and 4 g salt. Knead until smooth, about 7 minutes. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Soften onion in the filling oil for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, 3 g salt and pepper. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring, until thick rather than watery. Spread out to cool briefly.
Divide the dough in two. On a lightly floured surface, roll one piece slightly wider than the buttered tin. Line the tin, leaving a small overhang.
Spread the filling evenly. Roll the second piece to cover; place it on top, fold in the overhang and seal. Brush with remaining butter and make a few small steam holes.
Bake for 30–35 minutes until golden with a cooked base. Rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
Chef’s notes
If the dough springs back, cover it and let it relax for a few more minutes. A thick, cooled filling is easier to enclose than a wet or hot one. Avoid using all the dusting flour unless needed.
Tips and variations
Do not try to reproduce a charcoal-black crust in a domestic oven. Judge readiness by the pastry underneath as well as the top. Tin size affects thickness and baking time.
Serve with
Cut into eight wedges. Serve two wedges per person for a main meal, with yogurt alongside if desired.
Storage
Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours. Eat within 48 hours. Reheat once in a 170°C oven until hot throughout and the pastry has firmed up.
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
Nutrition has not been calculated. Portion size and the brands used will affect the final values.
Allergens
Contains wheat/gluten and milk from butter. Optional yogurt also contains milk.
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Questions
Is this cooked under a saç? No. It adapts a two-layer lakror to a conventional oven.
Can I use watery tomatoes? Cook them down until the liquid has reduced; the filling should not flood the pastry.
Why does the total differ from adding every timing? The dough rests while the filling cooks.
