Ćevapi
Bosnia's grilled minced-meat fingers, bound with baking soda and kneaded for up to 15 minutes until the mixture turns sticky and springy - a texture-building step, not optional seasoning - then tucked into warm somun bread with raw onion and kajmak, never cooked onion.
⏱ 90 min🍽 4 servings
dinnerbosnian
Nutrition (per serving)
Estimated - not lab-measured
620 Calories36g Protein42g Carbs34g Fat
Ingredients
- •1 lb ground beef
- •1/2 lb ground lamb
- •1/4 lb ground pork
- •4 cloves garlic, crushed into a little water
- •1 tsp salt
- •1/2 tsp black pepper
- •1/4 tsp baking soda
- •4 somun or pita flatbreads
- •1 onion, diced raw, for serving
- •Kajmak or cream cheese, for serving
Steps
- 1.Combine the ground beef, lamb, and pork with the garlic water, salt, pepper, and baking soda in a large bowl.
- 2.Knead the mixture by hand for 10-15 minutes until it becomes sticky and starts to adhere to your hand - this extended kneading develops the springy, sausage-like texture that's essential, not optional.
- 3.Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let the flavors meld and the mixture firm up.
- 4.With wet hands, shape the meat into small finger-length logs, about the size of your index finger, rewetting your hands as needed to prevent sticking.
- 5.Preheat a charcoal grill (or a very hot grill pan) and brush lightly with oil.
- 6.Grill the ćevapi over medium-high heat, turning to brown evenly on all sides, and never pressing down on them, since that squeezes out the juices that keep them tender.
- 7.Warm the somun bread briefly on the grill as well, then tuck several ćevapi into the warm bread with a generous scoop of raw diced onion and a spread of kajmak - the onion is always served raw, never cooked.