č is for čevapčici

čevapčici who hasn't enjoyed these spicy skinless sausages at a BBQ at least once in their lives and before i go any further they are NOT rissoles, good got that clear now lets move on, čevapčici  are popular all over the balkans as a fast food snack especially as a 3am got to have one now kind of snack,can be teamed up with their cousin raznjiči ( diced pork ) to form a POLA-POLA (half and half). You get one bread roll fill with čevapčici and raznjici add ajvar top off with kiseli kupus ( coleslaw but not the dodgy mayo kind ) and enjoy with ice cold beer. Some of the best čevapčici I have had were at the Zagreb railway station that my cousin Dario took me to basically the menu consisted of čevapčici and that's it, they served them on a paper plate with a side of RAW sliced onion and a little pile of salt and a sourdough type roll, to fit in with the locals the technique was to dip raw onion slice in salt ,eat and then take a bite of čevap and wash down with beer.. lovely. Now you can buy pre packaged but why bother when I am going to give you the recipe.


750 grams of  beef ( try rump ) 
750 grams of  pork neck ( if anybody tells you that you don't need pork for this recipe they don't know what they are talking about )
2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
tsp salt 
tsp pepper
4 tbsp sparkling mineral water or soda water
olive oil 
2 brown onions finely chopped


Add  water,garlic , salt, and pepper and meat put through mincer ( if mincing at home mince meat on finest setting you have ) if you have bought mince and its not fine enough you can put it in a plastic bag and gently beat with a meat tenderizer and then mix ingredients, and also make sure that the garlic is really finely chopped as it wont be going through the mincer if you have bought mince.
Once you have combined the ingredients either by putting through mincer or mixing by hand add mineral water and mix by hand for 10 min.
Put covered bowl in fridge and leave for 1hr.
After 1 hr mix meat for another 5min
Get a soup spoon and scoop out some of meat mixture say size of a ping pong ball and place in the palm of your hand and  roll into a cigar shape.
Arrange on a flat plate I like to drizzle a little olive oil on the plate beforehand to stop them sticking.
Rest for 30min

Cook on medium to high BBQ or grill pan for about 10 min turning over at 5 min mark.


Serve with ajvar, onion, bread and if you must..... tomato sauce.