Balkan Cevapcici

Prepare

1. Keep everything cold. Cut the meat into 3 cm cubes and chill it, along with the mincer parts, until very cold. 30 minutes in the freezer is ideal.

Mince and mix

1. Mince the meat. Mince the meat through a medium plate (about 5–6 mm).
2. Add the mix. Sprinkle the 175 g Balkan Cevapcici Premix over the mince and mix it through by hand first.
3. Add the water. Pour in the 400 ml chilled water and keep mixing for 2–3 minutes, until the mixture turns sticky and binds together.

Tip: Fry a teaspoon-sized patty and taste it before shaping. It's the easiest time to adjust the seasoning.

Shape

1. Rest the mix. Cover and chill the mixture for at least 1 hour, or overnight, so it firms up and the flavours develop.
2. Shape into fingers. With wet hands, roll about 40 g of mixture into fingers around 8 cm long and 2 cm thick. Lay them on a tray lined with baking paper.

Cook and store

1. Grill hot. Cook on a hot, oiled grill or barbecue plate, turning, for 8–10 minutes until browned and the centre reaches 71 °C.
2. Store. Refrigerate and eat within 2–3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Make it your own

Everyone makes sausages slightly differently, and that's half the fun. Treat these amounts as a starting point, then adjust to suit your taste: a little more or less seasoning, a fattier or leaner cut, a coarser or finer grind, or a splash more water for a juicier sausage.

Try a mix of beef and lamb for a richer flavour, add a little chopped garlic or paprika, or serve with ajvar and raw onion. Fry a small test patty, taste and tweak, and write down what you changed so your next batch turns out just the way you like it.