Ukrainian Kovbasa Sausage That Needs No Casing Recipe

In ukrainian, kovbasa is the generic word for any type of "Sausage, " Much like kiebasa is the generic word for "Sausage" In polish. The beauty of this particular ukrainian fresh sausage (not smoked) recipe is that casings are optional. The links can be formed by hand if desired. Other eastern european sausages formed by hand include serbian/croatian cevapcici and romanian mititei. This simple sausage is made with a combination of pork and beef and peperivka, a spicy vodka. The meat mixture can be prepared days in advance in order for the flavors to meld and develop before rolling into cylinders and cooking. Grilling, frying, baking or poaching all produce a good result. If you have trouble finding peperivka, there's a recipe for it below. It must be aged for 48 hours before using, so plan accordingly.