Balkan Breakfast

5 from 2 votes

Try a real Balkan breakfast with bread, feta, eggs, sausage, olives, and fresh vegetables. Simple, filling, and full of flavor, just like people eat at home.

Prep Time20

Cook Time10

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Balkan, Eastern Europe, Romanian

Servings: - 8 people

Calories: 406kcal

Author: Adina

Equipment

Large plate or wooden board
Medium frying pan

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 long baguette thickly sliced, Note 1
1 onion red or white. or 4 green onions
2 tomatoes ripe and sweet
8 radishes
1 garden cucumber or ½ English cucumber
2 sweet green peppers or 1 large bell pepper red, orange or yellow
20 black olives
8 slices of feta cheese or kashkaval, Note 2
10 slices salami
2 cabanossi sausages about 9 oz/ 200 g
1 teaspoon oil
1 small bowl of ajvar or zacusca optional, Note 3
a few sprigs of parsley optional
fine sea salt

Instructions

Basic Balkan breakfast:

Serve: A few slices of bread (depending on their size) with feta cheese, 2-3 slices of salami, a bit of onion, one tomato, or a few cucumber slices.

Deluxe Balkan breakfast:

Eggs: Boil the eggs. For semi-soft yolks, cook them for about 6–7 minutes. For hard-boiled eggs, boil them for 9–10 minutes. You can also make fried, poached, scrambled eggs, or omelets. While the eggs cook, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
4 eggs
Bread: Cut the bread into thick slices.
1 long baguette
Vegetables: Cut the onion, tomatoes, and radishes into small wedges. Slice the cucumbers and the pepper. Place the olives in a small bowl.
1 onion + 2 tomatoes + 8 radishes + 1 garden cucumber + 2 sweet green peppers + 20 black olives
Cheese: Cut the feta or kashkaval into thick slices.
8 slices of feta cheese
Sausages: Cut the salami into thick slices. Cut the cabanossi into large pieces. Make two small cuts at each end, crossing like an X, so they curl up and form a flower shape when cooked.
10 slices salami + 2 cabanossi sausages
Cook cabanossi: Heat the oil in the pan and fry the cabanossi for 3–5 minutes, turning often, until lightly crispy and heated through.
1 teaspoon oil
Dip: Spoon ajvar or zacusca into a small bowl.
1 small bowl of ajvar or zacusca

Arrange Balkan breakfast:

Place the small bowls with dip and olives on the board. You can also scatter the olives on the board at the end to fill any empty spaces.
Place thick slices of bread in one corner or spread them out a little. Add the cheese close by. Peel and halve the boiled eggs and place them next to the cheese.
Arrange the salami and cabanossi in small piles or slices.
Add the fresh vegetables in groups around the board. Add a few parsley leaves if you like.
a few sprigs of parsley
Salt: Don’t forget a little bowl of fine sea salt on the table.

Notes

Bread: You can also use several thick, large, and halved slices of white bread.
Cheese: Every Balkan country has its own type of feta cheese made of sheep, cow, or goat milk – use your favorite. Kashkaval is another regional type of cheese, a semi-hard yellow cheese made from cow’s or sheep’s milk. It’s mild and slightly salty. You can replace it with mild cheddar (not aged) or young Gouda.
The nutrition calculation doesn't include the dip.
Winter version: Use pickles instead of fresh vegetables.

Nutrition