Cevapcici (+ Ajvar) Recipe
Croatian style Cevapci, short links of seasoned ground beef and lamb served with homemade Ajvar roasted red pepper) sauce and Kajmak cheese/cream sauce in a Lepinje bread pita with onions and tomato salad.
Equipment
- Grill, stove top grill
Ingredients
Cevapcici
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp to 1 tbsp red pepper flakes (I like a milder heat)
- 1 tbsp marjoram
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
Ajvar Spread
- 5 red peppers
- 1 eggplant
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup parsley
- 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. salt
- 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
- Red pepper flakes, to taste (less = mild, more = spicy)
Instructions
For the Cevapcici
- Combine all of the above ingredients in a big bowl and mix, preferably with your hands, until fully incorporated. Allow to chill for an hour, or overnight.
- Form into finger length links. On a grill, or in a pan with some olive oil, cook on medium/high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side. Some pink meat on the inside is fine, but cook to your desired doneness.
- Allow to drain on paper towels. Serve as desired, but raw or carmelized onions work great, along with the elements of the Coastal salad (tomato, red onion, cucumber). If making Lepinja bread, use that to open up like a pita, or use pita. If making Kajmak and/or Ajvar, use as a dip or a spread, depending on how you serve your Cevapcici.
For the Ajvar
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Chop the peppers and eggplant in half, place in a baking sheet, and lightly drizzle olive oil on top.
- Roast for 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool enough to peel off the charred skins.
- Place in a food processor, along with the garlic and parsley. Pulse just under 10 times until uniform.
- Add the remaining ingredients and pulse continuously until the desired consistency. You can also drizzle in the olive oil from the top of the processor while pulsing, to control the thickness of the ajvar. It should not be too thin, but should appear smooth and not chunky.
- In addition to accompanying Cevapcici, ajvar can serve as a rich and zesty dip for bread, vegetables, or chips or as a spread to almost any sandwich. It keeps well in a secured jar for a couple weeks.
