Popara is my childhood in a bowl. In fact, if you ask most people who grew up either in the Balkans or in a Balkan household, they will remember popara. This recipe was born out of the necessity to feed the whole family quickly, but also to use up day-old bread in the process. This is very filling and can keep you going for hours.

Popara is made with day-old bread, milk, butter, and either cheese or kajmak, (Balkan version of clotted cream). All of these ingredients are plentiful in the countrysides of the Balkans, therefore this dish can be whipped up with short notice. I personally prefer to use feta cheese, and if you’ve read most of my posts here, you’ll know just how prominent it is in the cuisine from my region. This is something households always have on hand, and it makes its way into a lot of these traditional dishes.

If you’re seeking a bowl of comfort, this is it. I personally prefer to use French bread when making popara because it gives it an extra yummy flavor. Oh, and trust me, it tastes MUCH better than it looks. The texture is usually what trips people up when they first try it.

My favorite thing about this dish is finding a chewy piece of bread hidden in the porridge. It’s like finding a golden nugget.

Depending on how long you cook it, Popara can be one homogeneous mixture or pretty course with plenty of chewy bread pieces. This is totally up to you and your preferences. The longer you cook it, the more creamy and broken up the bread pieces will be.

Popara / Bread Porridge

Recipe by The Balkan HostessCourse: MainCuisine: Balkan, Serbian

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

2 cups (500 ml) water
1 cup (250 ml) of milk
5-6 slices day-old white bread ( around 1/2 baquette)
2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
1 – 1.5 cups (150-175 g) feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon (2-5 g) or more salt, to taste

Directions

In a medium saucepan, bring the water, oil, milk, salt, and butter to a boil on medium heat.
While the water is boiling, cut up the bread or use your hands to break it apart. I like to cut it a bit larger than bite size because it will cook down quite a bit and I like some pieces to be larger.
When the liquid comes to a boil, add in the bread and reduce the heat to low. Using a wooden spoon, break up the bread pieces. Stir continuously until all the liquid has been soaked up by the bread and the mixture starts to thicken.
When the mixture has reached your desired consistency, add in the feta cheese. Turn off the heat and stir once more to combine the cheese and bread mixture.
Serve immediately.

Notes

If you don’t like feta cheese, use sour cream or cream cheese instead. Even cottage cheese works! Make sure to taste your feta to see if it’s salty. If it is, reduce the amount of salt you use.
It’s best to use a French Baquette or white bread with a thicker crust. Standard toast – style bread will not work for this.

If you buy feta cheese for this dish, click here to learn how to properly store it in your fridge!

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Prijatno!