AI-generated image
Cârnați de Pleșcoi
Cârnați de Pleșcoi: Buzău mutton and beef sausages with garlic and chilli, grilled
The village of Pleșcoi, in the hills above Buzău, is so proud of its sausages that roadside inns there sell them by the metre: dark red, fiery with chilli and heavy with garlic, made from mutton with a little beef and no pork in the meat. Traditionally they are smoked and air-dried; this home version is a fresh sausage, rested overnight in the fridge for the flavours to settle, then grilled until cooked right through. The casings are usually sheep's casings, but if you buy hog casings they are pork, so check what your butcher sells you. Snappy outside and juicy within, they are eaten straight off the grill with sharp mustard, bread and pickled vegetables. Where people tend to go wrong is letting the meat warm up while mixing; keep everything fridge-cold so the fat does not smear. Chef's tip: fry a small spoonful of the mix before you fill the casings and taste it for salt and chilli; once stuffed, you cannot adjust.
- Total time
- 240 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the sausages
- 1 ¾ lb mutton or lamb shoulder with its fatabout 25% fat, well chilled, cut into cubes
- 10 ½ oz beef chuckchilled, cut into cubes
- ⅝ oz fine salt
- 10 cloves garliccrushed to a paste
- 2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 2 tsp hot paprika
- 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 ½ tsp black peppercoarsely ground
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ cup ice-cold water
- 4 m sheep casingssoaked in cold water and rinsed inside
To cook and serve
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 6 tbsp hot mustard
- 6 slices gluten-free bread (optional)
- 7 oz pickled peppers or gherkins (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Put the 1 ¾ lb mutton or lamb shoulder with its fat and 10 ½ oz beef chuck cubes in the freezer for 20 minutes, with the mincer parts, until very cold and firm at the edges.
20 minStep 2: Mince the meat through a 6 mm plate into a cold bowl set over ice.
10 minStep 3: Add the ⅝ oz fine salt, 10 cloves garlic, 2 tsp dried chilli flakes, 2 tsp hot paprika, 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 1 ½ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp ground coriander and ½ cup ice-cold water. Knead with cold hands for 4–5 minutes, until the mixture turns sticky and binds into one mass that clings to your palm.
5 minStep 4: Fry a walnut-sized piece in a hot pan for 2 minutes on each side, until cooked through, then taste and adjust the seasoning in the bowl. Chill the rest while you set up.
5 minStep 5: Thread the soaked 4 m sheep casings onto the sausage-stuffer nozzle and fill evenly, firmly but not tight. Twist into links about 15 cm long and prick any air pockets with a needle.
25 minStep 6: Lay the sausages on a tray, uncovered, and rest them in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight, so the casings dry and the flavours meld. Never leave them on the counter.
120 minStep 7: Heat a grill, griddle pan or barbecue to medium. Brush the sausages lightly with 1 tbsp sunflower oil.
5 minStep 8: Grill for 14–18 minutes, turning every 3 minutes, until browned and blistered all over and a thermometer in the middle of the thickest link reads 160°F. Cut one open if unsure: there should be no pink and the juices should run clear.
18 minStep 9: Rest for 3 minutes, then serve with the 6 tbsp hot mustard, 6 slices gluten-free bread (or ordinary crusty bread if gluten is no issue) and 7 oz pickled peppers or gherkins. Freeze any uncooked links, well wrapped, for up to 2 months.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 3 g
- Fat
- 39 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cârnați de Pleșcoi take?
- About 240 minutes in total: 210 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of hot paprika?
- Smoked paprika, half the amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Tteokgalbi
Tteokgalbi is rib meat chopped finely, pressed back into neat slabs and grilled, so it's soft enough to eat without struggling with a bone. Two places in South Jeolla claim it: Damyang, the bamboo county, where all-beef patties come with rice steamed in bamboo tubes, and Gwangju's Songjeong district, whose restaurant street near the railway station mixes beef with pork. This home version uses minced beef and pork, seasoned with soy, garlic and pear, then brushed with a soy and honey glaze as it cooks. Serve with rice, lettuce and a few banchan; leftovers are good cold in a lunchbox. Chef's tip: slap the mince against the bowl for a few minutes; it turns sticky and the patties hold together on the grill without any breadcrumbs.
Korean
Char siu
Hanging in long glossy strips in the windows of Guangzhou's siu mei shops, char siu is the roast pork Cantonese families pick up on the way home to put on rice, noodles or into steamed buns. The outside is lacquered, sweet and a little charred at the edges; the inside stays juicy, savoury and faintly scented with five-spice. Shoulder (pork butt) is the cut to use, because its marbling keeps the strips moist through a hot oven. Marinate it overnight in the fridge, roast it the next day and eat it warm with steamed rice and blanched greens, or cold in fried rice and noodle soups. Chef's tip: save the honey for the last ten minutes; brushed on at the start it burns black long before the pork is cooked.
Chinese