The Romanian Easter drob is a traditional appetizer for Easter brunch, and this chicken version is a very popular twist on the well-known lamb drob.
Romanian Easter Drob, also known as chicken drob, is amazing! It's a dish that can even win over those who typically don't like liver. My husband, for example, couldn't get enough of it during Easter—he ate it every day until it was finished!
Over the weekend, several guests joined us for breakfast or a late snack, and they all loved the drob. They were curious about what it was and especially what ingredients made it so delicious.
Try more Romanian Easter dishes: Romanian Boeuf Salad, Roast Leg of Lamb, or Pasca.
What is drob?
Traditional Romanian Easter drob is made with lamb offal and tastes amazing, despite how it might sound. Similar to haggis or faggots, drob is a beloved dish for Orthodox Christians during Easter. The lamb symbolizes Jesus' sacrifice, and families would traditionally butcher a lamb for the occasion. Nowadays, this practice is less common, especially in urban areas.
Lamb drob is made from lamb offal such as heart, kidney, liver, and spleen, mixed with spring onions, green garlic, and plenty of herbs like dill and parsley. Traditionally cooked in the lamb's caul fat, which is the liner inside the lamb's gut, it can also be baked in a loaf pan or a small tin.
Chicken drob
The popular Romanian Easter dish drob has many variations, but I'm most familiar with the chicken liver and chicken breast version. My grandmother used to make the traditional lamb drob, which I enjoyed, but she made the chicken version more often because the ingredients were easier to find year-round.
I'd love to try making the traditional lamb recipe, but finding lamb offal is challenging. So, I stick to chicken drob, which is fine because I love chicken, and chicken liver is my favorite kind of liver anyway.
Ingredients
Chicken: You will need chicken liver and a smaller amount of chicken breast.
Garlic: Green garlic might be difficult to find. It looks similar to green onions but with slightly different leaves and is typically available only in spring. Since it's unavailable at the grocery store, I tried using wild garlic instead, as its season just began. It was a brilliant idea! Wild garlic gave the drob a subtle herby garlic flavor and the right color and texture.
If you can't find green or wild garlic, increase the number of spring onions and add about four grated garlic cloves to the mixture.
Mushrooms: I always use mushrooms from a can because that is how my grandmother always did it.
Herbs: You will need lots of fresh dill and parsley. Usually, I have nothing against frozen herbs, but in this case, I would only use fresh herbs.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to store it?
Keep it refrigerated in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months and defrost it in the fridge.
How to serve?
You can serve the chicken drob as part of the Easter brunch with bread, Romanian pretzels, crackers, or crisp bread. Include Romanian Boeuf Salad, Romanian Chicken Soup, and Romanian Deviled Eggs.
Assemble an Easter platter, including raw vegetables such as radishes, green onions, red bell peppers, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. Add some olives and maybe some grapes. The grapes are not traditional as they do not grow in spring, but they taste very good together with the drob. Don't forget to serve a good mustard or homemade orange mustard on the side.
You can take it on a picnic or make sandwiches with it.
Romanian Easter Drob
Equipment
- Baking dish 8x8 inches/ 20x20 cm
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken liver 500 g
- 9 oz chicken breast 250 g
- 3.5 oz green onions 100 g
- 2 oz green garlic 60 g, Note
- 1 can sliced mushrooms
- 3 large eggs
- 1 bunch parsley about 1 oz/ 30 g chopped parsley leaves
- 1 bunch dill about 1 oz/ 30 g chopped dill
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Line the baking dish with parchment paper.
- Boil chicken livers: Place the chicken liver in a medium pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes and drain well. It should be cooked through but still slightly pink in the middle. 1 lb chicken liver/ 450 g
- Cook the chicken breast in another pot; it should be cooked through.9 oz chicken breast/ 250 g
- Prepare remaining ingredients: In the meantime, roughly chop the onions and garlic. If using regular garlic, you should grate it. Drain the mushrooms and roughly chop the herbs. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl.3.5 oz green onions/ 100 g + 2 oz green garlic/ 60 g + 1 can sliced mushrooms + 1 bunch parsley + 1 bunch dill + 3 large eggs
- Chop: When the chicken liver and breast are cool enough to handle, chop them both into pieces.
- Process chicken drob: Place all the prepared ingredients including salt and pepper in the food processor, add the salt and the pepper, and process until you obtain a rough paste. I never make it too fine; I like to have some bits of meat and greens left. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.1 teaspoon fine sea salt + ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Bake drob: Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and level. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until a nice crust is formed.
- Let cool completely, remove from the baking dish, and cut into squares.
Sissi says
I have forgotten to give the link to a post about growing garlic "chives" from sprouting cloves :
http://www.withaglass.com/?p=18599 (I do the same with onions and shallots too... somehow I keep on finding them sprouting from time to time, so instead of throwing away, I grow leaves).
Good luck!
Sissi says
It looks like an extraordinary dish I would really love! Reminds me a bit of pâtés/terrines which always include some livers (pork or chicken).
I don't know if you miss the flat Asian garlic chives or garlic greens. If it's garlic greens, I advise you plant a garlic clove (half of it in soil) in a pot (now you can grow it outdoors) and wait until it grows. You will have delicious greens after two weeks or less. Now in spring many garlic cloves sprout in the fridge (and many people throw them away), so I have now about ten garlic cloves growing!
As for Asian garlic chives, I can easily get seeds here, so let me know if you would like me to send you some!
(It's so funny because I've posted a wild garlic recipe today!).
Chris Scheuer says
Wow, something new for me! I love learning about culinary traditions from other countries.
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
I haven't heard of drob before, but I do love a good pate and this seems similar. Sounds like a great recipe!
Alina Delicious Romania says
Love the mushrooms addition, didn't think about this when I made my drob 🙂 Thanks for the tip!
KR says
We have same problems with lamb. This is expencive and very difficult to get. But I love liver and this is recipe for me 🙂 Even better, that chicken 🙂
Adina says
I love chicken and chicken liver too, but I wish I could make the original someday... 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
Is Drob like Hühnerpastete?
That looks very rich!
Adina says
Yes, like pastete, I could not find an appropriate translation for English, only pate which doesn't quite fit in this case.