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Potato grandmother in the oven with minced meat

Potato Babka with Meat in the Oven

Made from simple ingredients, for the whole family, for dinner! Potato babka is a traditional Belarusian dish. It's built on the same idea as potato pancakes, only in a bigger portion and baked in the oven. The most fragrant version comes out of a rustic wood oven, of course, but it's still very tasty from a regular oven.

Nika

Recipe author

Potato grandmother in the oven with minced meat

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Potatoes (peeled)

Ground meat

450

Onion

Garlic

Egg

Flour

Butter

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 17 % 5 g

Fats 41 % 12 g

Carbohydrates 41 % 12 g

174 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make potato babka with meat in the oven? Gather all the ingredients. This recipe uses ground pork, but you can swap in chicken or beef. I used a ceramic baking dish measuring about 8 x 6 inches (20 x 15.5 cm).
Step 2:

First make the meat filling. Peel one onion and the garlic. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Pour vegetable oil into a skillet and heat it. Fry the diced onion over low heat for 4 minutes, then add the minced garlic and cook everything together for another minute to release the garlic's aroma. Don't over-brown the vegetables.
Step 3:

Add the ground meat to the softened vegetables and fry, breaking up the clumps, until it loses its raw pink color. Season the filling with salt as it cooks. Once it's done, take the skillet off the heat and set it aside until you assemble the babka.
Step 4:

Now make the potato base. Wash and peel the potatoes, and peel the remaining onion and rinse it. Note that the recipe lists the weight of the potatoes already peeled.
Step 5:

Cut the potatoes and onion into a few pieces so they fit through a meat grinder, then grind them using the fine-holed plate. If you don't have a grinder, grate them on the finest holes of a grater instead — grate the onion first, since its juice keeps the potatoes from darkening. Stir the potato mixture now and then so the onion juice spreads evenly through it.
Step 6:

Transfer the mixture to a sieve and press it with a spoon to squeeze out a little of the liquid. This removes excess starch, but don't overdo it, or the babka may turn out too dry. Return the potato mixture to the bowl.
Step 7:

Beat the egg into the potato mixture and add the flour and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly until smooth.
Step 8:

Prepare the dish. Using a pastry brush, thoroughly grease the bottom and sides with vegetable oil. Any dish works — a roasting pan, a cast-iron pot, a ceramic dish, a baking sheet, or even small crocks. Spread half of the potato mixture into the greased dish and smooth it out a little. Spread the meat filling over it as the next layer, distributing it evenly. Top with the remaining potato mixture as the last layer and smooth it out again without mixing the layers.
Step 9:

Lay thin slices of butter over the top. Put the dish in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C) and bake for about 50–60 minutes. In that time, the mixture should set and turn golden.
Step 10:

When it's done, take the potato babka out of the oven, cut it into portions, and serve it hot with sour cream.

Root vegetables are best scrubbed with a brush or a stiff sponge under running water.
Always wash your eggs before using them — even a shell that looks clean can carry harmful bacteria. A food-safe wash and a brush work best.
Remember that every oven is different, so the temperature and timing may vary from what's written here. A little know-how about how your oven behaves goes a long way toward a successful bake.