Recipes

Spiced Sausages with Red Pepper and Eggplant Sauce

  • Serves

    serves 4

(Cevapcici s Ajvarom)

Mixing the ground meat with soda water and kneading it well helps create these sausages' characteristically springy texture.

Ingredients

  • 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 13 lb. ground beef chuck
  • 13 lb. ground lamb
  • 13 lb. ground pork
  • 2 tbsp. hot paprika
  • 1 12 tsp. dried savory
  • 12 tsp. cayenne
  • 1 yellow onion (1⁄2 grated, 1⁄2 thinly sliced)
  • Freshly ground white pepper
  • 14 cup soda water
  • 3 red bell peppers, halved and seeded
  • 1 small eggplant (about 1⁄2 lb.), halved lengthwise, flesh side lightly scored
  • 7 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • Pita bread and sour cream

Instructions

Step 1

Roughly chop 4 cloves garlic with 1⁄2 tsp. salt; using the flat side of a large knife, mash garlic into a paste. Transfer to a bowl; mix with beef, lamb, pork, half the paprika, savory, cayenne, grated onion, 2 tsp. salt, and 2 tsp. pepper. Add soda water; beat with a spoon until tacky. Knead meat with your hands for 3 minutes; cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Knead mixture once more for about 1 minute, then shape into sixteen 3"-long sausages. Transfer to a sheet pan. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Step 2

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat broiler, with rack 6" from broiler element. Arrange peppers and eggplant on a foil-lined baking sheet in a single layer, cut sides down. Rub with 1 tbsp. oil; sprinkle with salt. Broil, turning once, until softened and somewhat charred, 14–15 minutes. Transfer peppers to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to let steam for 15 minutes. Remove and discard skins from peppers. Scoop flesh from eggplant; discard skin and largest seeds. Pulse eggplant and 4 tbsp. oil in a food processor with remaining garlic to make a coarse purée; transfer to a bowl. Purée peppers; add to eggplant and stir in remaining paprika, vinegar, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set sauce aside.

Step 3

Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook sausages, turning occasionally, until browned, 6–8 minutes. Serve with sauce, pita bread, and sour cream.

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