Mesni Polpeti & Matevž for Productive Overwinter Planning | Sara's Kitchen Witchcraft

Y'all best get ready to get ethnic (again).

Jump to Recipe | Jump to Witchcraft

One thing that I miss quite a bit is one of the dishes I had while out in Slovenia in 2019: a leaf-shaped wooden plate of three bowls with bacon sauerkraut, potato, and these little meat patties in them. They were delicious, and they were so typical to that area's cuisine: meat, potato, something sour.

I have potatoes that need to be used, some beef and pork in the freezer, and way too many cans of beans, as well as a stray jar of sauerkraut that I didn't realize I'd tucked away—which means now's the perfect time to show y'all this here little dish. (And the magic you can do with it!)

Speaking of magic, in here we're looking at the bean, potato, egg, parsley, and onion, so let's get started.

Magic in Mesni Polpeti & Matevž

Again, this dish is a very typical Slovenian (so central/southern European) style dish, and that means that the main vibe here is comfort: the heartiness of it, the thick patties of meat, the very conspicuous lack of fresh vegetable, it's a meal that'll have you out and asleep on the couch in a minute, or it'll give you the energy needed to stay warm in colder months. As such, just by vibe alone, one could say the magic here is all about strength, stability, and endurance: getting through hard times, keeping your inner fire alive, and giving yourself some much needed rest and centering.

However, that touch of earth and Moon influence from potato becomes the grounding, centered, and serene springboard off which we can jump with all kinds of creative new beginnings! With other elements, like fire, water, and air, all here, as well as the influences of Mars, Pluto, and Mercury, this meal makes for a surprisingly powerful brainstorming, planning, and preparing ritual: one where we can identify the problems with the past year and make sure to avoid them in the next as we overwinter and wait to bloom in the coming spring.

Mesni Polpeti & Matevž

Prep time: 20min

Cook Time: 15-20min

Makes 4-5 servings

Ingredients:

For Meat Patties:

• 2lbs ground meat

  • Preferred: 1lb beef, 1lb pork or lamb

• 2 small/medium onions, diced

• 5 cloves of garlic, diced

• 300g old cubed bread or breadcrumbs

• 100 milk

• 2 eggs

• 1-2 Tbsp parsley

• 1 Tbsp paprika

• 1 Tbsp salt (or Vegeta)

• 1 Tbsp ground black pepper

For Matevž:

• 2 medium/large potatoes, peeled & diced

• 1 can of kidney beans

• 1 onion, diced

• 2 cloves of garlic, diced

• Salt & pepper to taste

Note: serve these dishes with something sour, like pickled beets or sauerkraut!

Directions:

1.  Dice and fry ALL onions in a pan until soft and beginning to turn golden.

2.  Add ALL garlic and fry until fragrant.

3.  Cut and begin boiling potatoes.

4.  Save some of the onion and garlic for the matevž, then add the rest to a bowl of meat.

5.  Mix together meat, onions, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, and spices until thoroughly combined.

6.  Form polpete: thick discs of meat (not as thin as a burger, but like palm sized medallions).

7.  Fry polpete in a pan of olive oil on each side until done, about 10min each side.

   •  You don’t want any pink in here; it’s not a burger. If all else fails, cover pan with lid while cooking to steam them through, make them thinner, or even sear them on each side and put them on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20min.

8.  Drain potatoes and add beans, onions, and garlic, mashing together until mostly combined.

9.  Heat matevž through until everything is warm/cooked, including beans.

10.  Serve polpete and matevž with sauerkraut or other pickled foods!

As the rain comes and cools off this awful heat, and things start finally feeling like the Waning Season of Autumn, it's time to bust out these hearty dishes and remind us that there's life in us yet! Definitely try out yet another classic Slovenian meal; it'll surely be a hit in your house. ♥

---

Other Recipes You May Like:

---

Sara Raztresen is a Slovene-American writer, screenwriter, and Christian witch. Her fantasy works draw heavily on the wisdom she gathers from her own personal and spiritual experience, and her spiritual practice borrows much of the whimsy and wonder that modern society has relegated to fairy-and-folktale. Her goal is to help people regain their spiritual footing and discover God through a new (yet old) lens of mysticism.

Follow Sara on Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, and explore her fiction writing here.