Sunday, May 29, 2011

Pork Cevapcici (Ćevapčići)


Cevapcici is a national dish of Balkan states that formed former Yugoslavia. It consists of grilled minced or ground meat (lamb, beef or pork alone or any combination) formed into an oval sausage and is served with chopped onions, mustard and potatoes or rice. Besides Balkans all countries of Central and Eastern Europe have their own version. Wikipedia has an excellent entry on this summer meal favorite.
I prefer pork and lamb combination.

Ingredients
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground lamb
1 egg white
1 Tbs. hot Dijon mustard
1 tsp. salt
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 small onion, minced
1 tsp. hot Hungarian paprika
1 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp. baking powder

Directions
Preheat a grill to medium-low heat.
In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, lamb, mustard and egg white.
Add the garlic, salt, baking powder, sweet and hot Hungarian paprika.
Mix well using your hands, and form into thick sausages about index finger long.
Oil the grill grate and grill sausages for about 15 minutes or until cooked through, turning till all sides are light gold.
Serve with boiled potatoes, chopped onions and mustard.
I served my Cevapcici on bed of chopped Napa cabbage and arugula.
Note: If grill is not available it is just as good to shallow fry with lard in heavy skillet. It takes about same time to cook on medium high heat.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any version of this as a sausage?

Jerry said...

Seb, the sausage or cigar shape is traditional. It is also tradition to skewer them lenghtwise together with a bay leaf and grill them over charcoal. That is authentic way to cook them. Also, even though I serve them with mustard and chopped onions, traditionally they are served with yogurt and cucumbers. I just bought pound of each pork and lamb and Balkan yogurt and I will grill tomorrow.