Pleskavica

Publication in the group: European cuisine

The traditional Serbian dish pljeskavica can be prepared using more than 25 recipes. But the most popular remains the classic one. This dish is prepared all over the world today. But it was the Serbs who assigned him authorship. The dish is a large round thick cutlet. The recipe appeared a long time ago. In the hot Serbian climate, it was not easy to keep a meat dish fresh, so cooks came up with the idea of first marinating it in salt and only then frying the cutlets.

General principles of cooking

Traditionally, the treat is fried on a grill over coals. But, if this is not possible, you can do it at home in a regular frying pan.

There are several rules for preparing pljeskavica:

cutlets are always molded in a round shape;
the dish should include only meat, onions and spices (in extreme cases, cheese);
a treat is prepared from beef and pork in equal proportions;
No flour, bread, eggs, or cereals are added to the dish.

Marinating minced meat before making cutlets is a mandatory process. First, the meat is salted, then coated with oil so that the liquid does not evaporate, and covered with a film. The minced meat is left in this form for at least overnight. It’s better to let it “rest” for at least 25 hours. To ensure that the meat does not spoil, it is advisable to make several holes in the film.

The authorship was assigned to Serbian cuisine, but the appetizing and “brutal” meat cutlet - pljeskavica, is prepared in most Balkan countries, and thanks to the large diaspora from the former Yugoslavia, the recipe soon spread throughout Europe and now the dish loved by meat eaters is offered by fast foods with a national twist in Sweden , Germany, Austria.

Pljeskavica is round in shape, follows the contours of a chopped beefsteak, is often baked on a grill over coals, and at home it is fried both on a grill pan and on a regular one with a smooth surface. The Serbian-style pljeskavica recipe contains, in addition to spices and onions (sometimes garlic is added), only meat: beef and pork in equal proportions. There should be no bread, no crackers, no flour, no eggs, no cereals, or other common additives for our cutlets - just pure meat!

Before forming semi-finished cutlets, the minced meat is marinated and filled with aromatic moisture for about a day, due to which a particularly tempting juiciness is achieved. It is customary to serve not only with French fries, vegetables, sauces, building multi-layer burgers, but also under a film of freshly skimmed baked milk: heated salty kajmak - a common snack in the Balkans.

Ingredients

minced meat (beef + pork) 700 g
onions 100 g
mineral water 100 ml
hot red pepper to taste
salt to taste
olive oil for frying

Preparation

We pass equal weight pieces of beef and pork through a meat grinder or, if you trust the manufacturer, buy ready-made assorted minced meat. Salt, add a portion of ground red pepper - always hot. Mix thoroughly and thoroughly to distribute the spices evenly.
Pour sparkling water (unsweetened, of course) into the seasoned minced meat and stir again until smooth. We tamp without leaving any hollow areas inside the mass. Level the surface and cover with film or install a plate/lid. We keep the workpiece for the next 24 hours on the refrigerator shelf.
Before frying the pljeskavica cutlets, remove the skins from large onions (or take a couple of small ones) and chop them into cubes of approximately the same size. In some establishments, Serbs place one onion per product. Please note that chopped onions that are too large will burn and turn black ahead of time.
The next step, following the recipe with the photo, is to combine the onion slices with the already marinated meat. You can work in a bowl, but try my method. Place the minced meat and onions in a food bag (make sure it is strong, otherwise it will tear). First, we bring it to homogeneity with our hands, and then we pull together the edges of the bag, twist it or tie it in a knot, and hit the package with the semi-finished product several times on a countertop or other hard surface. This increases the plasticity of the mixture and makes it easier to sculpt Turkish kebabs, Serbian-style pljeskavica, and any international cutlets.
Read also: Uzbek samsa - flaky, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside
Lubricate your palms with olive oil, pinch off the prepared minced meat and form round cakes with a diameter of about 12 cm. Vary the size yourself, taking into account the needs of your household. If you plan to make sandwiches, adjust the diameters of the buns and pljeskavica cutlets to each other.
Fry on both sides over moderate heat, in hot oil, until golden brown. Press down with a spatula and check the color of the juice that comes out - it all depends on the degree of roasting that you personally prefer. As with steaks, the heat shrinks at high temperatures, so you don't need to keep them covered. For the children's menu, the dish is sent into a hot oven for a few minutes to further steam. To speed up the process, immediately boil the side dish - pasta, mashed potatoes or some cereal.

Serve pljeskavica hot, warm, for example, with homemade pickles, ketchup, fresh herbs and vegetables - bon appetit and a hearty lunch!

Classic version

Serbian-style pljeskavica, the classic recipe for which is most often used, is prepared from mixed minced meat.

It should include pork and beef at once (for example, half a kilo each). The minced meat must be well cooled before starting to prepare the treat.

Ingredients

You need to prepare:

minced pork and beef - half a kilo;
salt – 1 tbsp. l.;
red pepper (a mixture of bitter and sweet) – 1 tsp;
sparkling water - 1 tbsp.;
onion – 2 heads;
oil (any vegetable) – 2 tbsp. l.;
salt

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

In a large container, the first step is to mix 2 types of minced meat. Afterwards, salt them, add red peppers, pour in all 2/3 tbsp. sparkling water. The liquid must be well cooled.

Pljeskavica in Serbian style, the recipe requires the use of minced pork and beef.
After very thorough mixing, when the mass becomes as homogeneous as possible, you need to coat it with the selected vegetable oil. Next, put it in a cool place for about 10-12 hours.
Then you can add the onions to the minced meat. First you need to peel the vegetable and chop it very finely with a sharp knife.
At the next stage, you will need to place a cutting board on the table and coat it with vegetable oil. Some of the minced meat will be laid out on it in the form of a flat cake.
When the workpiece is formed, you need to move it to a frying pan with heated oil and fry on both sides. During the process, you should be careful with the meat, as the cake (due to the addition of soda) will begin to grow quickly and actively. She will become magnificent. During the process, fat will splatter heavily from the pan.

All that remains is to transfer the finished cutlets to a large plate and let them cool slightly. Afterwards, serve with any side dish. For example, it’s delicious to combine a treat with French fries and assorted fresh vegetables.

Gourmet pljeskavica

Ingredients:

700 gr. ground beef
300 gr. bacon
1 large onion
2–3 cloves of garlic
100 gr. dry cheese
1–2 tbsp. l. ground sweet paprika
1 tbsp. l. ground hot paprika
Sparkling water
5 pit
Thick natural yogurt
Salt and black pepper

General information:

Cooking time: 70 minutes;
Number of servings 7.

Cooking method:

Chop the bacon finely and mix it with the ground beef. Add to the minced meat half a glass of sparkling water, half of hot and sweet paprika (if you don’t like paprika, don’t even touch pljeskavica, it’s paprika that gives it that very Balkan taste for which everything was conceived), salt, pepper and mix well - for about 10 minutes, not less. Now put the minced meat in a bowl, compact it thoroughly so that there is no air left in the bowl. Pour a thin, a couple of millimeters, layer of vegetable oil on top, cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator for at least 6-8 hours, or better yet, overnight. And even better - for a day.
Chop the onion and garlic as finely as possible, crumble the cheese and mix with the minced meat. Add another half of the remaining paprika and mix thoroughly again. Grease a cutting board with olive oil and start making wide and fairly thin cutlets, 6–8 millimeters in thickness.
Grease each cutlet on all sides with olive oil and carefully place on the grill. Both the grate and the coals under it must be properly hot so that a crust immediately forms on the pljeskavica, which will retain the juices inside and prevent the cutlet from falling apart. You can also grease the grate with oil (for this you will need a special silicone brush, which is sold in kitchenware stores) so that the pljeskavica does not burn.
While your cutlets are frying, work on the bread. Ideally, of course, you need real Serbian somun bread - a flatbread similar to pita, but fluffier. But pita will do too. If you want to do everything completely authentic, heat a small bowl on the fire, put a little melted butter in it, add half a glass of chicken broth, mix, add hot and sweet paprika and let it boil. Brush the insides of the pitas cut in half with this mixture and place them on the grill, cut sides down, for just a minute. Or just warm up some pitas on the grill.
Now put the heated half of the pita on a plate, grease it with yogurt, put pljeskavica on top, sprinkle with paprika (it never goes out of place in a Serbian dish) and cover with the other half. Tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage and other sandwich fillings are optional, but in an authentic pljeskavica there is nothing except flatbread, yogurt, paprika and the cutlet itself.

Croatian pljeskavica

The Croatian version of the recipe includes hard/semi-hard cheese, and, in addition, a large amount of spices.

The treat is also served with original sauce. It makes the taste of the dish especially bright and interesting.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

minced pork and beef – 270-300 g each;
feta cheese/feta – 180-200 g;
onion – 1 (small) head;
sweet pepper – 1 pc.;
cheese – 80-90 g;
sparkling water - ½ tbsp.;
garlic – 3-4 cloves;
basil – 1 pinch;
salt, dried paprika, dry adjika.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

Both declared versions of the meat product must be mixed in a large container. After that, add spices (except dry adjika) and pour in cold sparkling water. You must add onions to the same mixture. It is first cleaned and finely chopped.
It is recommended to knead the minced meat with your hands. This must be done for several minutes so that the mass has time to become viscous. Only after this can cheese be added to it. The dairy product is chopped into miniature cubes.
At the next stage, you can form the cutlets. From the specified amount of products, it is best to make 3-4 large ones. The thickness of each should be about 1.5-2 cm.
All that remains is to fry the treat. To do this, you can use a grill or a regular frying pan with hot vegetable oil. In the second case, you need to place halves of garlic cloves next to the cutlets.
To prepare the sauce, you will need to bake the bell peppers in foil or fry them until soft. Afterwards, remove the skin. If the pepper has been heat-treated, this will be done very easily and quickly.
All that remains is to mash the feta/brynza with dry adjika and combine with the baked/fried vegetable. The resulting mass is best blended with a blender. But you can just mash it with a fork.

Salt the sauce if necessary. Afterwards, you can immediately serve it to the table along with pljeskavica. To make the dish look more impressive, roll the sauce into balls and place them on top of the cutlets.

In Serbian

Serbian-style pljeskavica, the recipe for which is published below, is prepared with the addition of lard. This additive should be fresh, unsalted. For added piquancy, garlic and chili pepper are also included in the treat. The latter is also included in the sauce with which ready-made cutlets are served.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

pork and beef - half a kilo each;
sweet red pepper – 3 pcs.;
unsalted lard – 120 g;
onion - 2 pcs.;
chili and garlic cloves - 3 pcs.;
olive oil, salt.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

The meat and lard are first washed and dried, then passed through a meat grinder with a middle grid. The result should be as homogeneous a thick mass as possible.
The onion should be peeled and very finely chopped into neat cubes.
You will need to cut 1 chili pod lengthwise and remove all the seeds from it. The remaining part of the pod is also finely chopped. 1 clove of garlic must be peeled and ground in a mortar with a pinch of coarse salt to obtain a homogeneous paste.
Next, the onion, chili and garlic are transferred to the minced meat along with 2 tbsp. l. olive oils. The mass is mixed very thoroughly by hand.
All that remains is to form it into round cakes with a diameter of approximately 12 cm and a thickness of 1 cm.
The resulting pieces are coated with olive oil and fried over hot coals on a grate or grill on both sides until fully cooked. This process will take approximately 7-8 minutes.
For the sauce, you will need to bake the remaining sweet peppers and chili in the oven or over a fire. Afterwards, remove the skin and seeds, blend them in a blender with the rest of the peeled garlic, salt and olive oil (you will need about 130-150 ml).

Pljeskavica is best served hot. For this, cutlets are placed on a large plate and sauce is poured on top. You can also supplement them with black or white bread.

Cutlet pljeskavica (step by step photos)

There is one very interesting dish in Balkan cuisine - pljeskavica. Essentially, this is a good meat patty, but very thin and without additional components. In it, salt, hot red pepper, and garlic serve as the main additives, but you can always experiment with any favorite spices to suit your taste. So the result of the search for new dishes based on the old recipe was the gourmet pljeskavica. Pieces of smoked cheese or feta cheese and onions are placed in it, and the cutlet itself is grilled and served with Serbian homemade somun bread, similar to pita.

It is known that pljeskavica, the recipe for which quickly spread across the Adriatic, did not appear just like that. In hot climates, it is difficult to preserve meat after cutting a carcass, so this unusual marinating technology was invented. The word pljeskavica in Serbian means a slap of the palm on the meat, apparently reminiscent of the splash of water (“splash”, “pljeskavica” - the emphasis does not change). By the way, be prepared that if you overdo it with oil, it will also splash perfectly from the frying pan onto everything around, so carefully turn the cutlets over, and you can lightly sprinkle the frying pan with sea salt.

mixed minced meat (pork, beef) – 870 g;
mixture of sweet and hot paprika - 2 tbsp. l.;
nutmeg – 2 g (optional);
salt – 15-20 g;
mineral water (table) – 120 ml;
garlic cloves – 2 pcs.;
pita, vegetables, greens.

The set of products for the recipe has been selected; it’s worth saying a little about spices and salt. Practice shows that the amount of salt in each dish is individual; take into account the fact that the meat will remain in the refrigerator for almost a day. The amount of hot paprika can be varied, but be sure to use it - it has all the flavor.

The components contain mixed minced meat. It can be easily purchased in the store (beef and pork in equal proportions) or prepared at home from the same meat. A little fat is added to the minced meat.

Add the paprika mixture, nutmeg and sea salt to the mixed minced meat.

Now you need to mix the minced meat very well. It is advisable to “punch” it for at least a quarter of an hour so that it becomes sticky, viscous, and dough-like in consistency.

Add mineral water - it should not be too salty, preferably medium composition, at room temperature. Mix the minced meat again.

We compact the minced meat, level the surface and pour in a thin layer of olive oil, distributing it so as to cover the meat entirely. Cover the dishes with cling film and put them in the refrigerator for a day (at a temperature of +3C).

Press the garlic cloves into the marinated minced meat mixture and mix the ingredients in the bowl again.

Pljeskavica is formed as follows: the cake should be about 15 cm in diameter and only 4-6 mm thick. It is better to form on paper or film.

If the frying pan is non-stick, just place the cutlet on it without adding oil. Lightly grease other surfaces with an oiled cloth. It is not possible to fry more than one pljeskavica in a frying pan. Cook the cutlet for three to five minutes on each side at medium temperature, turning it over with a spatula when done.

Ready-made meat cutlets, as you can see, are somewhat reminiscent of burgers - pljeskavica photo.

If desired, we serve the dish according to the rules of Eastern European cuisine: pita, vegetables, onions and herbs. And we serve!

In Montenegrin

The recipe for the unusual Montenegrin dish being discussed includes not only sparkling water, but also soy sauce. The latter is best to choose classic without additional additives.

The calorie content of the finished treat will be approximately 270.5 kcal, and its BJU:

BJU	Value in g (per 100 g)
Squirrels	16,2
Fats	22,6
Carbohydrates	0,8

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

mixture of beef and pork - half a kilo;
salt and paprika - ½ tsp each;
soda (unsweetened) – ½ cup;
onion – 1 pc.;
olive oil – 3-4 tbsp. l.;
classic soy sauce – 1 tbsp. l.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

The first thing you need to do is place the mixed minced meat into a large bowl. Afterwards, pour soda and soy sauce into it.
Next, the products need to be kneaded very thoroughly to remove excess air from the mass. All that remains is to level the surface of the minced meat and coat it with olive oil.
Then the meat mixture is covered with a bag/cling film and stored in a cool place for a day.
When the minced meat is well infused and cooled, you can add finely chopped onions to it. Thanks to soy sauce, you won't need salt in your treat. It should be added only as desired along with sweet paprika.
Afterwards you will need to form the minced meat into large thick cakes and fry them in a frying pan with well-heated oil.

Fully cooked cutlets should be served immediately. They are complemented with fresh vegetables and pickled red onions.

Fried Serbian pljeskavica

To prepare traditional Balkan pljeskavica, mixed minced meat is used - beef and pork. Along with minced meat, onions and spices are considered mandatory ingredients for these cutlets.

In addition to these ingredients, pljeskavica may include mushrooms, cheese, fresh herbs - most often basil. To add spiciness, any type of fresh hot pepper can be added to the cutlet mince - from chili to cayenne.

Ingredients:

Ground beef – 300 gr.,
Minced pork – 300 gr.,
Onions – 1 pc.,
Garlic – 2 cloves,
Salt - to taste
Spices: coriander, ginger, paprika, a mixture of dried Provençal herbs, ground black pepper,
Hard cheese – 50 gr.,
Sunflower oil

Preparation:

Choose a comfortable wide bowl. Place minced pork and beef in it. Mix these two types of minced meat. Peel the onion and garlic cloves for these flatbread cutlets.

Cut the onion into small cubes.

Finely chop the garlic cloves.

Grate hard cheese on a medium grater.

Add cheese, onion and garlic to the bowl with minced meat.

Mix the minced meat with your hands.

Salt and season the minced meat for pljeskavica with spices. Spices in pljeskavica recipes may differ in composition and quantity. In this recipe I used coriander, ginger, paprika, a mixture of dried Provençal herbs, and ground black pepper.

Stir the minced meat for pljeskavica thoroughly again for about 5-7 minutes. Just like for preparing lula kebab, the minced meat must be well kneaded so that the cutlets do not fall apart and keep their shape well.

Wet your hands with cold water. Take some minced meat. Roll it into a ball. Flatten the resulting ball into a flat cake. Using this principle, make the rest of the cutlets - Serbian pljeskavica.

Heat a frying pan with sunflower oil. If you have a grill pan, feel free to use it to fry pljeskavica.

Fry them in vegetable oil on both sides for 2-3 minutes.

ARTICLES ON THE TOPIC:
Turkey cutlets with cheese stuffing - step-by-step photos in recipes
Bacon-wrapped cutlets - step-by-step cooking recipes with photos
Oatmeal cutlets like meat cutlets - 5 recipes for cutlets made from oatmeal

Due to the thinness of pljeskavica, they bake very quickly. Serve the finished pljeskavica hot. Traditionally, they are served with cheese sauce or simply sliced cheese, chopped vegetables or vegetable salads, side dishes and bread. In cafes, pljeskavica is often served with fries.

Ural with cheese

Pljeskavica with cheese is not a classic, but very tasty and successful recipe. You can use the dairy product for treats according to your taste. Brynza, fetax or any hard cheese are perfect. If the cook does not like basil, then you can safely exclude it from the recipe or replace it with any other dried herbs. But paprika fits perfectly into the treat and makes its taste more interesting.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

minced meat – 570-600 g;
cheese (any chosen) - 80-90 g;
onion – 1 pc.;
sparkling water - ½ tbsp.;
garlic – 3-4 cloves;
dry basil and paprika - 1-2 pinches each;
salt.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

The meat product according to this recipe must be mixed immediately with peeled chopped onions and sparkling water.
After the mass becomes homogeneous, you should put it in a cool place for 2-2.5 hours.
After the specified time has passed, you can add dry herbs, salt, and cheese to the minced meat. The latter must be cut very finely into pieces or grated on a coarse grater.
The resulting minced meat is divided into 2 parts. After this, 2 cutlets are formed from it.
All that remains is to fry the workpieces on both sides in hot oil in a cast-iron frying pan. Then you can serve immediately.

Any fresh or grilled vegetables are good as a side dish for a meat dish. You can also serve mashed potatoes/peas with pljeskavica.

general information

Pljeskavica is the name given to a dish that resembles a flat round cutlet. The main ingredient is mixed minced meat (pork + beef). This dish is served hot, with bread, side dish or hard cheese. Previously, pljeskavica could only be eaten while traveling in the Balkan countries (Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro). And now it is included in the menu of many European (and even Russian) restaurants.

Balkan

The recipe for hearty Serbian-style pljeskavica allows you to prepare a very juicy, tender and soft meat treat. Even when the cutlets cool down, juice continues to flow out of them when pressed with a knife. To achieve this result, you need to cool the minced meat well and add cold sparkling water to it.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

beef and pork (already in the form of minced meat) - half a kilo each;
highly carbonated water – 180-200 ml;
paprika (ground) – ½ tsp;
onion – 1 pc.;
salt.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

The two types of meat specified in the recipe are first passed through a meat grinder.
Afterwards they are mixed with salt and dry sweet paprika. For those who like it spicy, you can add hot pepper to the dish.
Next, you need to pour highly carbonated water into the meat mass. It is best to take regular, non-mineral.
You need to wait until the minced meat stops sizzling and splashing. Next, you will need to knead it with your hands for about 10-12 minutes. In the process, you should kind of mix water into the meat. With every minute the mass will become more homogeneous and eventually begin to resemble plasticine.
When the meat has compacted, you will need to compact it into a bowl, coat it with vegetable oil to retain moisture, cover it with film or a lid and leave it like that for 25 hours.
Then you need to add chopped peeled onions to the minced meat and mix everything again.
Afterwards you will need to immediately form large cutlets from the mass. This should be done in a special way - take a portion of minced meat and throw it several times from palm to palm. You can also beat the meat on the table. This will compact it and make it more convenient to work with.
All that remains is to form flat cakes about 1.5 cm thick and fry them in a heated frying pan with oil until fully cooked. At first, the cutlets will “shoot” a lot of fat. Therefore, it is better to cover the pan with a lid. It is enough to fry the treat for about 5-6 minutes on each side.

The finished pljeskavica is immediately served to the table. As a side dish, it can be complemented with a salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and red sweet onions.

Grilled

Pljeskavica is a treat that is traditionally prepared outdoors over a fire.

It also turns out very tasty when grilled at home. This cooking method can significantly reduce the amount of fat.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

beef – 370-400 g;
pork – 300-330 g;
pork lard – 80 g;
onion – 2 heads;
sparkling water – ½ tbsp.;
salt.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

To begin with, you need to prepare homogeneous thick minced meat from 2 types of meat and fresh lard without skin. To do this, all products are cut into small pieces and passed through a meat grinder with a nozzle with large holes.
Next you need to add salt to the mass. You can use any spices.
At the next stage, sparkling water is poured into the meat. The mass is mixed very thoroughly, covered with cling film and kept cool overnight.
When the meat is well cooled, you can add small onion cubes to it. Afterwards, transfer the mixture into a clean, strong bag and beat it on a hard surface. Then the cutlets will be easy to mold and keep their shape perfectly.
All that remains is to form large round pieces of meat (it is convenient to do this with your hands greased with vegetable oil) and send them to a grill pan or in the yard on a grill with butter until cooked.

The treat is best served hot with any favorite side dish.

On the grill

Serbian-style pljeskavica, the recipe for which comes in different variations, is especially tasty when baked on the grill. The cakes must be made round. It is convenient to use a special form designed for preparing burgers for this.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

mixed minced pork and beef – 650-700 g;
onion – 1 pc.;
soda (unsweetened) – ½ cup;
ground coriander, pepper, salt.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

You need to add salt and the spices specified in the recipe to the minced meat. You can take others to your liking. After thorough mixing (when the spices are well distributed throughout the meat mass), sparkling water is poured into the bowl.
Next, you will need to compact the minced meat well so that all the air comes out of it. Under the cling film, the meat will “rest” in the cold for about a day.
Then you should combine the prepared minced meat with chopped onions. Its pieces should be miniature so that they do not burn.
After the next mixing, the minced meat is placed in a tight bag and beaten. In this form, it is left cool for another couple of hours.
While the meat is being prepared, you should start grilling with coals. When they are well warmed up, you can make round cakes from the minced meat.
In the next step, the blanks are placed on a wire rack and left until ready. During the first 5-7 minutes you need to turn the cutlets very often. Then the meat will “grab” and will not fall out. Cooking time will be 15-17 minutes.

The cutlets should be served hot. You can complement them with tzadiki sauce and pickled onions.

detailed instructions

Step No. 1. Grease the cutting board with oil. This will prevent the meat from sticking to it. Cut the pork and beef into shreds. We remove films and veins.

Step No. 2. Now we cut each flap crosswise. We take a hatchet in our hands. We begin to chop the meat. At the end of the process, sprinkle the minced meat with spices. Salt. Add the chopped ingredients: onions, hot peppers and herbs.

Step No. 3. Make one large cutlet from the resulting minced meat. Transfer to a plate. Cover it with a lid. Now we put it on the middle shelf of the refrigerator.

Step No. 4. After half an hour, we take out the “blanks” of pljeskavica. Coat the washed board with oil again. Divide the minced meat into 2 parts. We knead one of them thoroughly on the board. We pat it with our palm. The thickness of the meat cake should not exceed 1 cm. Otherwise, it is no longer pljeskavica. The recipe involves adding garlic and herbs to it. Be sure to add diced Mozzarella. Using a wide hatchet blade, smooth out the edges of the cutlet. We do the same with the second part of the minced meat.

Step No. 5. Place pljeskavica in a heated frying pan - 2 pieces at once. Fry using oil. 6-8 minutes on each side. Pour over the juice squeezed from half a lemon. Place the cutlets on a wire rack to drain off excess oil.

We presented a version of the Pleskavica dish. The recipe with photo clearly demonstrates how the cutlets should look when finished. The best addition would be fried potatoes. Decorate the dish with sprigs of parsley or cilantro. We wish everyone bon appetit!

From Serge Markovic

Chef Serge Marovic has his own recipe for making pljeskavica. Only beef is used for it. Sea salt is also required.

Ingredients

For the dish you need to take:

minced beef – 1 kg;
onions – 2-3 pcs.;
sparkling water - ½ tbsp.;
garlic – 3-4 cloves;
bacon - 3-4 slices;
feta cheese – 60 g;
sea salt - 1 tbsp. l.

Step-by-step cooking process

The cooking process includes several stages:

The beef must be minced and mixed with sea salt. Any spices are also added to taste.
Next, you need to pour sparkling water into the mass and put it in a cool place for a day, coated with vegetable oil and covered with a film with holes.
Bacon and cheese need to be finely chopped and mixed into the minced meat. You will need to do the same with garlic. You can also use fresh parsley.

Cutlets are formed from the resulting mass and fried in a frying pan or grill.

Serbian gourmet pljeskavica

Ingredients:

minced meat 300 gr.
onion 1 pc.
cayenne pepper 1 tsp.
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
hard cheese 50 gr.
raw smoked bacon 1 piece

General information:

Cooking time: 50 minutes;
Number of servings 2.

Cooking method:

Let's prepare the minced meat for pljeskavica. Pass the meat through a fine grill of a meat grinder or twice through a regular one. Mix well for at least 10–15 minutes, add good carbonated mineral water (1 cup per kilogram of meat), mix until smooth, cover with film and put in the refrigerator for a day.
Cut the bacon and cheese into cubes. Peel the onion and cut into small cubes. Mix the minced meat evenly with bacon, onion, cayenne pepper, and cheese - about 5 minutes. With wet hands, form large cutlets - up to 15 cm in diameter. I shaped it in my hands, then leveled it on a small wooden board. I greased one side with vegetable oil and carefully placed it on a hot grill pan. The cutlets don't fall apart!
Once the pljeskavica has hit the grill, do not touch it! Do not look and do not try to check whether it will come off or not. “It will come unstuck”! We time it for 4 minutes. Cook, turn over, carefully lift with a spatula, and cook for another 4 minutes. Serve with any side dish.

Useful tips and tricks

There are several tricks that will help you prepare delicious pljeskavica:

if you don’t have a grill pan, you need to fry the cutlet on a cast iron one;
minced meat can be used only after long-term cooling;
In order for the cutlets to better hold their shape, the meat mass is beaten in a bag on a hard surface;
You should not use mineral water for the recipe; it is better to take regular drinking water, but carbonated;
large pieces of onion in a dish will burn, so you need to cut it finely.

A simple recipe for delicious Serbian-style pljeskavica even includes the addition of cheese. For example, feta or cheese. It may also include bacon.