Carska Pita / Tzar’s Pie

I’m the type of person who could make a meal out of appetizers. If I could choose, I would just skip the main dish altogether.

If you’re familiar with Balkan culture, entertaining guests involves having some kind of Mezze before an actual meal. This usually involves smoked meats, cheeses, and savory baked items, usually a pita. No, not pita bread, pita (or pie) using hand-stretched dough or phyllo dough. There are also pitas that don’t involve a dough, but rather a batter. One of those is Carska Pita, or Tzar’s Pita translated.

I don’t know the origins of this dish, and I’m not totally convinced Tzars enjoyed this during their time. I think the idea behind naming this dish Tzar’s Pita is to indicate that it’s rich in ingredients and therefore fit for a Tzar.

Carska Pita consists of a quick batter with a few interesting mix-ins. This recipe is a little time consuming because it involves dicing some of the ingredients, but trust me when I tell you it’s worth it, and have I mentioned how beautiful it looks sliced into squares on arranged on a platter?

This recipe makes a great weekend breakfast or something to serve as a cocktail party appetizer (cut in small squares). You can also substitute mix-ins if you don’t like pickles or peppers. I always recommend at least keeping the cheese. See my very easy recipe below.

Carska Pita / Tzar’s Pie

Recipe by The Balkan HostessCourse: AppetizersCuisine: Balkan, Serbian

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup (150 g) feta cheese, diced

• 1 cup (150 g) dill pickle, diced

• 1 cup (150 g) chicken bologna/ham/any deli meat, diced

• 1 cup (150 g) roasted red pepper, diced

• 5 large eggs (or 6 medium)

• 1/2 cup (150 ml) oil (I use sunflower)

• 1 cup (250 ml) Kefir or buttermilk

• 1 tbsp (17 g) salt

• 1 tbsp (14 g) baking powder

• 1 1/2 cups (190 g) all purpose flour

• 1 cup (200 ml) water

Directions

• Grease a 9×13 baking pan with oil and set aside.
• Dice the feta cheese, meat product, roasted red pepper, and pickles into similar sized pieces, set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and add in oil, kefir/buttermilk, salt, flour, and baking powder. Switch to a spatula or wooden spoon. Once all the flour has been incorporated, stir in the pickles, meat, pepper, and cheese.
• At this point, determine if water is needed. The consistency of the batter should be the texture of pancake batter. If it’s too thick, thin it out with a little bit of the water. You may not use all of the water.
• Transfer mixture to your greased baking pan
• Preheat oven to 350F (about 200C). While the oven preheats, let the mixture rest in the baking pan.
• When the oven temperature reaches 350F, place your uncovered baking pan in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until the top is a nice golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool and serve at room temperature.

Notes

• My favorite meat to use is Chicken Parizer, a Balkan version of chicken bologna. If you can’t find this, I highly recommend Eckrich bologna which I use sometimes instead.
• The inside of the dough upon first inspection may look springy and custard-like. This is ok, it will not look like a sponge cake or cake with a crumb. As long as a toothpick comes out clean, it is done.