GORANSKI NADJEV

Place of Origin: Croatia 

In the heart of Gorski Kotar, mountain part of Croatia between Karlovac and Rijeka, at the very border of N.P. Risnjak, there is a village called Crni Lug (lit. Black Bosk(et)) – it got the name from conifer woods of the area). It is the home village of  my dad's mum. Among many local specialties, there is a very old one that was once called Crnoluski zeludac (Crni Lug's stomach) – a traditional festive Easter dish made from eggs, cooked ham, bacon, spring onions and bread stuffed into a pig's stomach that was cooked or baked and, at the end, smoked. Later on, it became more common to stuff it into beef's intestine instead of pork's stomach. And nowadays, while some still make it like that, others use artificial intestines that can be found in supermarkets or bake it in a bread mold which is the easiest way as bread molds are practically available everywhere. And I will show you here how to make that version but using my great-grandma's old recipe from the end of 19th ct. Nowadays this dish is called Goranski nadjev. I'm not very sure how to translate this - it would be something like Mountainous stuffing. :-D
Original recipe is double in size, but they were a large family of 10 (8 children, parents…. not to count relatives or friends that could drop by for a meal) so I have reduced it to the half and it was more than enough for 7 people as an appetizer with cheese, ham, eggs….

INGREDIENTS:

200 g white bread

200 g cooked or smoked ham, cut into small cubes

50 g bacon, cut into thin stripes or small cubes

5 eggs

50 g spring onions (you can add more if you like it), chopped

1 tbsp oil (vegetable, sunflower, peanut….)

salt & black pepper to taste

1. cut the bread into small cubes and let it dry for 24 hours
2. when dried, put in a large bowl
3. heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the ham
4. drain on paper towel and add to the bread
5. add the bacon and spring onions
6. stir well
7. in a separate bowl, wisk eggs, like you would do for an omelet, add salt and pepper and pour it over the bread-bacon-ham mixture
8. mix it till well combined and let rest for 1 hour
9. preheat oven to 150°C
10. pour the mixture into greased and floured bread mold (or line it with parchment paper or use silicone mold) and press it a little
11. bake for 1 – 1.5 hour  - check for doneness with a toothpick just like you would do with cakes – it should come out clean
12. cut into thin slices and serve with ham, cheese, spring onions… for a traditional meal (we serve all that as an appetizer before the roasted meat). It can also be served as a side dish instead of regular bread. Or serve with lettuce as a main dish.
13. if covered with plastic wrap, it can be kept in fridge for several days

GORANSKI NADJEV

U srcu Gorskog Kotara, nedaleko Delnica, a na samom rubu Nacionalnog parka Risnjak, smjestilo se goransko selo Crni Lug iz kojeg potječe moja baka (s tatine strane). Među brojnim lokalnim specijalitetima, postoji vrlo staro jelo koje se nekad zvalo Crnoluški želudac, dok je danas uobičajeni naziv Goranski nadjev. To je tradicionalno svečano uskršnje jelo koje se spravlja od jaja, kuhane šunke, slanine, mladog luka i kruha čime se nadjevao svinjski želudac koji se potom kuhao ili pekao, a na kraju i dimio. Kasnije je postalo uobičajeno nadjevom puniti goveđa crijeva umjesto svinjskog želuca. Danas, iako se i dalje koriste goveđa crijeva samo u puno manjoj mjeri, češće se koriste umjetna crijeva koja se mogu kupiti u supermarketima ili se nadjev peče u kalupu za kruh što je i najjednostavniji način. Donji recept je upravo takav, no koristila sam stari prabakin recept koji vjerojatno potječe s kraja 19. st. (ako ga je ona već radila početkom 20. st. ;-) ).
Originalni recept je dupli, no baka je imala jako veliku obitelj - bilo ih je 10, osmero djece i roditelji. A da ne govorimo o rođacima ili prijateljima koji su mogli "banuti" na ručak. Tako da sam količinu smanjila na pola što je bilo i više nego dovoljno za nahraniti 7 osoba kao predjelo uz sir, šunku, jaja....

SASTOJCI:

200 g bijelog kruha

200 g kuhane ili sušene šunke, narezati na male kockice

50 g slanine, narezati na trakice ili kockice

5 jaja

50 g mladog luka (može se dodati više, po želji), nasjeckati

1 žlica ulja

sol i papar

1. kruh narezati na kockice i ostaviti da se suši 24 sat
2. suhi kruh staviti u veliku zdjelu
3. u tavi na ulju prepržiti šunku, ocijediti na papirnatom ručniku i dodati kruhu
4. dodati slaninu i mladi luk te dobro promiješati
5. u drugoj zdjeli razmutiti jaja (kao za omlet), dodati sol i papar i preliti preko mješavine s kruhom
6. izmiješati da se sve dobro sjedini i ostaviti stajati 1 sat
7. zagrijati pećnicu na 150°C
8. izliti smjesu u namašćen i pobrašnjen kalup za kruh (ili ga obložite papirom za pečenje ili pak upotrijebite silikonski kalup) i lagano pritisnite smjesu i poravnajte vrh (prstima)
9. pecite oko 1 - 1.5 sat, provjerite čačkalicom da li je pečeno - čačkalica treba ostati čista
10. narežite na šnite i poslužite uz šunku, sir, mladi luk, jaja... za tradicionalni objed. Može se služiti i kao prilog umjesto običnog kruha ili uz salatu kao glavno jelo.
11. nadjev zamotan u prozirnu foliju može stajati u frižideru do nekoliko dana.

Recipe by Linda