Main course
Pleskavica
A flat grilled meat patty eaten across the Balkans; the Macedonian favourite is stuffed with kashkaval.
Recipe from Туѓино Јабано
- Prep
- 4 hr 20 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Total
- 4 hr 32 min
- Fasting
- Not suitable
Ingredients 14 ingredients
Method
- Put both minces in a bowl with the onion, garlic, salt, bicarbonate of soda, pepper, paprika, parsley and oil. Add the mineral water a little at a time.
- Knead the mixture hard for five minutes, slapping it back into the bowl now and then. It should end up smooth and slightly sticky rather than crumbly, which is what holds the patties together over the fire.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours, better overnight. The bicarbonate of soda needs that time and the meat firms up.
- Divide the mixture into eight. Flatten each piece between two sheets of greaseproof paper into a disc about a centimetre thick.
- Heap grated kashkaval on four of the discs, leaving a clear border two fingers wide. Lay a second disc on top and press the edges together firmly all the way round, then smooth the join with wet fingers.
- Grill over a hot charcoal fire, or in a heavy ridged pan, for about five minutes a side. Do not press them down, or the cheese will find the weakest seam and run out.
- Rest them for a couple of minutes, then serve with raw onion, kajmak, ajvar and warm bread or chips.
If you cannot find it
Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.
- Kashkaval
- A young Gouda or a mild provolone. Both melt the same way; avoid anything mature enough to go oily.
- Kajmak
- Clotted cream or crème fraîche beaten with a spoonful of mascarpone and a pinch of salt.
- Ajvar
- Roasted red peppers blended with oil and a little vinegar, or a good jar of Balkan ajvar.
