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4.50 from 2 votes

Cevapi with Ayvar Sauce

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: Central Europe
Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

For 1 1/2 cups of Ayvar Sauce

  • 1 medium eggplant about a pound or half kilo
  • 2 medium red bell peppers
  • 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced (3 cloves of raw garlic is too sharp for me, but 3 cloves roasted garlic is great)
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30 ml)
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the Cevapi

  • 1 lb 500g ground beef
  • 1 lb 500g ground pork
  • 1 medium onion diced fine (about 3/4 cup)
  • 3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced (about 3 tablespoons) or 3 - 4 cloves roasted garlic, smashed
  • 1/2 cup parsley large stems discarded, leaves finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup hot tap water (60ml)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the Ayvar

  • Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C or heat the grill
  • Prick the eggplant in several places.
  • I put the vegetables directly on the oven rack, but you can put them on cookie sheets.
  • If you want to roast the garlic, cut the top of a garlic bulb off to expose the cloves and drizzle with some olive oil. Wrap the bulb in aluminum foil. It will take about 30 minutes for the cloves to soften. Keep an eye on it so the garlic doesn't burn, and remove it early if necessary. Burnt garlic = very bitter.
  • Roast the eggplant and peppers for about 30 - 45 minutes. Turn them once or twice while they're roasting.
  • The vegetables are ready when the skins have blistered and the flesh has softened somewhat. The eggplant will actually collapse a little bit. It's easier to peel the skins if they are blistered but not charred (ask me how I know...)
  • Remove the vegetables from the oven or grill and cover them with a large towel.
  • When they are cool enough to handle, cut the eggplant in half and scoop out the flesh. Place it into a large bowl or food processor.
  • Peel the skin from the peppers and remove the seeds and stems. Add them to the eggplant.
  • Add the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.
  • Pulse in the food processor or use an immersion blender to mix everything together until it's nice and smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed.

To cook the cevapi

  • Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and set aside
  • Place the ground beef in the bottom of your largest mixing bowl.
  • Distribute the onions, garlic, salt and pepper and parsley over top the beef.
  • Place the ground pork over top.
  • Give everything a gentle mix, then pour in the baking soda and water. Mix well, but stop when you feel everything is evenly distributed.
  • Place the cevapi mix in the refrigerator and allow the flavors to meld for at least four hours. (It will keep a couple days, but transfer it to a sealed container unless you like to smell garlic whenever you open the refrigerator door ;) )
  • When ready to cook, allow the grill to heat while you shape the cevapi. I use a meatball size portion and form it into a sausage shape. The smaller, breakfast sausage size doesn't work well on my grill, so I make mine a little larger.
  • Grill the cevapi until cooked through. The time is dependent on the size of the cevapi.