Cevapcici (Balkan Sausages/Meat rolls) LC, GF, SF

Name: Cevapcici (Balkan Sausages/Meat rolls) LC, GF, SF
Cuisine: European, Eastern European
Ingredients: 4 lbs. ground meat - I like a mix of pork and beef best, with even a touch of lamb if I can get it. My favorite ratio is 1.5 lbs. of pork, 1 lb. of beef and 1/2 lb. of lamb, but half beef and half pork works well too!; 2 medium sized onions, very finely minced (but not pureed); 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced; 1 tbsp. sea salt; 1 tbsp. black pepper, ground; 2 tbsp. hot Hungarian paprika; 2 tbsp. sweet Hungarian paprika; 6 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely minced (or 4tbsp. dried parsley); 3.5 tbsp. oil of choice; 2.5 tbsp. baking powder (GAPS/Paleo, use 1 tbsp baking soda); 3/4 cup carbonated water

5 steps

If you have never heard of them, Cevapcici are little Balkan rolls of minced and seasoned meat. Very tasty and quite addictive, especially fresh off the grill! And as it happens, they are very low-carb friendly! They are very popular in Germany, which is why I pretty much grew up with them! But I haven’t had them in many years now, so it was time to make them again! Can’t believe I waited this long! There are two ingredients in these that are sure to get some raised eyebrows, so I will explain up front! Yes, they have baking powder in them! It serves two purposes. The obvious one is that we want to have some rise in the meat, to have a less dense end product. The other function is that the baking powder acts as an emulsifier, making the water and fat mingle better and preventing the sausage from drying out and losing all it’s juices while cooking! The carbonated water also serves for some extra “lift” in combination with the baking powder! If you don’t have carbonated water on hand, you can use just regular water, but carbonated would definitely be better!

Updated at: Sat, 09 Sep 2023 04:04:50 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Good

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

Low

Nutrition per serving

Calories73.3 kcal (4%)

Total Fat5.1 g (7%)

Carbs3.5 g (1%)

Sugars0.3 g (0%)

Protein3.9 g (8%)

Sodium454.5 mg (23%)

Fiber0.4 g (1%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

40 servings

4 lbsground meat

I like a mix of pork and beef best, with even a touch of lamb if I can get it, but half beef and half pork works well too

2onions

medium sized, very finely minced, but not pureed

3 clovesgarlic

finely minced

1 Tbspsea salt

1 Tbspblack pepper

ground

2 TbspHungarian paprika

hot

2 Tbspsweet Hungarian paprika

6 Tbspfresh parsley

finely minced, or 4tbsp dried parsley

3 ½ Tbspoil

2 ½ Tbspbaking powder

GAPS Paleo, use 1 tbsp baking soda

¾ cupcarbonated water

Instructions

Step 1

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (hand mixer with dough hooks works fine too.)

Step 2

Process everything on low, scraping down the sides several times if needed. This will take a few minutes until everything is incorporated.

Step 3

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. Then form little sausage rolls. It helps to wet your hands!

Step 4

If you have a sausage extruder attachment or a sausage stuffer, by all means, use that! Once done, you can either grill the sausages on the BBQ or in the pan. If you’re doing them in a frying pan, get a little oil nice and hot, then sear the sausages from all sides. Turn down the heat and let them cook all the way through. You’ll see them puff up a bit too, so make sure you don’t overcrowd the pan so they have room to expand! The picture below shows them puffing up a little!

Step 5

Enjoy! I like my Cevapcici with a nice dark and crispy crust on them but you can make them much later if that’s not your thing! You can also just mostly cook them on a low heat, cool them and freeze them. Reheat them for a quick and easy dinner, or breakfast for that matter! Or you can freeze the uncooked sausages and cook them straight from frozen. You can even deep fry them straight from frozen!