“Budel, budla, nadlavanje, nadelo and želudac” are some of the names of this renowned stuffing, an Easter specialty from Gorski kotar. In most of the places in Gorski kotar it is prepared by cooking, but Mema who was happy to share her family recipe, cherishes the tradition of her mother Katica and grandmother Agneza, and prepares it baked. It was prepared this way in the village where she grew up, called Goršeta on the bank of the river Kupa, and we were happy to try it.
Ingredients
450 g (16 oz) white bread
1 teaspoon black pepper
450 g (16 oz) cooked ham
12 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
2 dried beef casings (60 cm/25 in long)
1 onion
2 tablespoons oil
Preparation
Cube the bread without the crust and leave it for at least 24 hours to dry. After it is dry, add some black pepper in a larger bowl and stir.
Cut the ham on thick cubes, add to the dried bread and mix well. Whisk the eggs well, add salt and pour over the bread and ham. Mix it all well and let it stand for an hour.
Soak the beef casings in tepid water, in which you added onion rings, in order to eliminate odours. After the casings have softened, remove them from water and dry on a table cloth.
Use the prepared stuffing to stuff the casings. From time to time remove the air from the casing so the stuffing distributes evenly. Fill the stuffing up to ¾ so that when the volume increases during baking the casing would not break. Tie the ends of a casing with a string and pierce the casings in several places with a needle or a wooden stick.
After you have stuffed the casings like this, place them on an oiled baking pan and bake at 150 °C (300 °F) for half an hour, and then reduce the temperature to 120 °C (250 °F), and continue to bake for another hour. During baking continue to pierce the casings for several times so they would not break.
Serving
After it is completely cooled, slice the stuffing and serve with spring onions and radish.
Advice
If you cannot find the appropriate casings, you can bake the stuffing in a narrow mold covered with baking paper.
Preparation time
120 minutes + resting time
