Tochitura moldoveneasca (Moldavian stew)

This is one of the most traditional Romanian dishes there is. And because it is so popular, all regions of Romania have their own version of it: Moldavian tochitura, transilvanyan tochitura, dobrogean tochitura and so on. They're all the same, but different at the same time. The base recipe has to have pork meat and sausages, polenta, garlic, cheese and egg in it. Some use different types of sausages, different cheeses, some usetomato sauce, some use mushrooms.
I am from the region of Moldavia in Romania, so I made the Moldavian version!

I used:
- 500gr pork meat
- 1 smoked sausage
- 200g feta cheese
- sunflower oil
- thyme
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 egg
- polenta corn flower



If I was in Romania, I would normally have used a traditional Romanian cheese called Branza de burduf or Telemea and home made smoked pork sausages. But being in Sweden, I had to replace those with Feta cheese and smoked chorizo sausage. It's aaaaalmost the same :) And you have to use sunflower oil, not olive oil. It's not the same taste.



You have to heat the oil in a pot. Add the chopped garlic cloves and leave them to saute for 2-3 minutes until the oil gets a bit of their flavour, then take them out and set aside.



I added the meat, piece by piece, on high heat and stirred until they start to get a bit of a crust. After the meat starts to get a somewhat white colour I added the cut sausage, added1-2 tbs of water, covered the pot and let it fry on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring now and then.



In the end I added the chopped thyme, salt and pepper and the garlic I removed in the beginning. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes more.



In the meantime you make the polenta (mamaliga). I used 1/2 liter of water, salt and polenta corn flower. Bring the water with salt to boil, turn the fire low and pour in the flower, stirring with a whisk. Let it boil for 1round 15 minutes, if you don't want stomach ake the next day! :)



Take an egg and fry it "Romanian style", in a pan with oil. Set everything on a plate: some polenta, the cheese, the meat and the fried egg on top. Enjoy!



It is very tasty and when you make it, it smells incredible. Being in Sweden, I like it so much and I like to say that "it smells like home" ! :)