Apple Millet and Farmer's Cheese Bake

Freshly baked cornbread slice on a white plate with a fork.

Apple Millet and Farmer's Cheese Bake

This apple millet and farmer's cheese bake is a simple, traditional-style dish made with cooked millet, apples, and creamy fresh cheese. The millet gives it texture, farmer's cheese makes it soft and creamy, and grated apples add plenty of moisture and natural sweetness.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 10

Servings 8 servings

Calories 213

Equipment

1 12 × 8-inch (30 × 20 cm) baking dish , or a similar-sized baking dish

Ingredients

275 g millet
1 ⅔ cups 400 ml water
2 cups 500 ml whole milk
325 g farmer's cheese or whole-milk ricotta
3 medium apples
4 large eggs separated
¼ cup 60 ml honey or ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter for greasing the baking dish
Optional: ½ cup raisins preferably soaked in rum beforehand

Instructions

Wash the millet really well. Place the millet in a bowl, cover with water, stir, and drain. Repeat several times until the water goes from cloudy white to mostly clear. This helps remove the bitter flavor millet can otherwise have.
Cook the millet. Add the drained millet, water, milk, and salt to a saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Prepare everything else. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and grease a 12 × 8-inch (30 × 20 cm) baking dish with butter. Peel and coarsely grate the apples. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Mix. In a large bowl, combine the farmer's cheese, egg yolks, grated apples, honey or sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir in the slightly cooled millet, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Fold in the rum-soaked raisins, if using.
Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40–50 minutes, until set and golden brown on top.
Cool and serve. Let the apple millet bake rest for about 10–15 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

FAIR WARNING: If you’re making this to impress guests, you might want to reduce the liquid you cook the millet in by about 100ml. That way, your bake will slice more easily and be more firm. HOWEVER…I really like the juiciness and softness of a softer bake (and my whole family agrees with that!). Do with this info what you will :)

Really wash your millet. A quick rinse isn't quite enough here. Add water, stir the millet around, drain, and repeat until the water goes from cloudy white to mostly clear. This helps prevent that slightly bitter flavor millet can sometimes have.

Farmer's cheese vs. ricotta. Slovenian skuta is a fresh cheese that doesn't have a perfect US equivalent. Farmer's cheese is a good choice if you can find it, but whole-milk ricotta is much easier to find and works well in this recipe. If your ricotta is particularly wet, let it drain briefly before using it.

Don't add the hot millet straight to the eggs. It doesn't have to be completely cold, but give it a little time to cool after cooking so you aren't mixing piping-hot millet into the egg mixture.

Don't skip whipping the egg whites. This is what makes this version more of a true narastek. Folding whipped egg whites into the mixture gives it a lighter, softer texture.

Add raisins if you like them. For a more traditional flavor, soak a handful of raisins in rum before adding them to the mixture. Drain off any excess rum before folding them in.

It's not just dessert. This is sweet, but not necessarily dessert sweet. You can serve it for breakfast, as a light meal, or as a simple dessert.

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