Lamb Sliders and Cevapcicis (Serbian Sausages)

Special occasions come and go, but almost always involve food of some sort. It doesn’t, however, always have to be a dinner. Families can get together for a great lunch as well.

On this particular occasion, we planned our lunch around some ground lamb and Serbian sausages called Cevapcicis, or just Cevaps, and sometimes Cicis. These blended sausages can be made by hand, but when they’re readily available at the local meat market then by all means, that’s the way to go. Cevaps are always tasty and addicting. The blend of pork, beef, and lamb combined with the various spices make these tender, skinless sausages a great appetizer as well as a main course. They do require constant attention on the grill, though, as flare ups are certain to happen. Lay them on direct heat, turn every few minutes, and you have both a perfect finger food or a stuffing for pita bread.

The Lamb sliders, however, are a different story. I started with one pound of ground lamb. This will be enough for eight sliders. In a large mixing bowl, I mixed the lamb with a combination of sautéed onions and garlic.

Now the rest is kind of up to you. What seasonings do you want to add to your mini burgers. I had a basic recipe that I somewhat followed, which included kosher salt, cracked black pepper, freshly toasted and ground cumin and a bit of ketchup.

Mix all the ingredients and form the meat into a large patty. Then, in whatever way you feel comfortable, divide the loaf into eight equal parts. I tend to go back to my geometry classes and make it pie shape.

Form each section into a small burger shape, stuffing a small square of cheese into the middle of each slider. Instead of this, you could also just put slices of cheese on the burger itself while grilling……your call.

These little beauties won’t take long to cook, only two to three minutes per side. Add toasted buns (King’s Hawaiian Rolls) and the original version of Tzatziki Sauce, and you are ready for a bite size grilled treat.

Combined with a creamy cucumber salad and/or a vegetable, and either or both of these small plates would make a wonderful, lighter meal, and the perfect lunch for a special get together.

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