Ingredients for 4 people
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8-10 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• ½-1 teaspoons chili flakes
• ½ cup soaked raisins (soaked in water and sugar for 2 days)
• 1 ½ cup orange juice
• 100 grams peeled slivered almonds
• 2 pounds ground beef
• Salt and black pepper for seasoning
• 4 small pita breads, or 1 large one
• 1 ½ pounds carrots
• 3-4 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
• ½ cup chopped parsley
Preparation
Simmer onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan until they are glassy. Add paprika and ¼ teaspoon chili flakes and simmer a further minute. Remove to a bowl and let cool.
Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 160 degrees for a convection oven. Simmer raisins in pan where garlic and onion were. Add orange juice and simmer 2 more minutes. Remove and put in a clean bowl to cool.
Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Spread almonds out over whole tray. Put in center of oven for 10-12 minutes. Mix raw ground beef with cooled onion and garlic mixture. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a short but fat hotdog-size sausage (approximately a 5 inch by 2 inch rectangle).
In a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, add beef rectangle portions. Simmer on all sides with medium heat approximately 10-12 minutes.
Cut pita bread in 1-inch slices. Drizzle a tad of olive oil on it and place on parchment paper where almonds browned. Put in oven for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown.
Peel and grate carrots. Add lemon juice and salt and the remaining chili flakes. Add 2-3 tablespoons water and 3-4 tablespoons oil. Mix all with almonds, raisins and chopped parsley.
To plate, put ¼ pita bread strips next to cevapcici meat rolls. Add carrot salad to the side.
A nice side dish would be Greek yogurt with garlic seasoning. A not too dry rose wine or a Dornfelder red wine go nicely with this meal. If you enjoy Italian wine, a Bardolino red wine would match the flavors in this meal well.
Guten Appetit!
If you are interested in setting up a cooking class with Klaus, he can be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/CookingWithKlaus or via email at CookingwithKlaus@web.de.
Featured Image Photo Credit: © MoDaVi Art & sonsam / Shutterstock.com
