Homemade Mild Italian Sausage

Submitted by Charlotte J

"To save time I'm using ground pork to make mine. From Emeril Lagasse Riverside Len, suggests leaving the cayenne pepper out all together."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 3 pounds of sausage

ingredients

• 3 lbs well-marbled pork butt, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons toasted fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground aniseed
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3 tablespoons dry red wine
• pork casing (optional)

directions

1. Combine the pork butt, garlic, paprika, fennel seeds, salt, pepper, cayenne, anise, parsley, and red wine in a large bowl and toss well to coat.
2. Refrigerate covered overnight or up to 24 hours.
3. Pass the mixture through a meat grinder fitted with a medium die.
4. (Alternately, transfer to a food processor in 2 batches and process until finely ground.).
5. To test the seasoning, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small skillet, and cook about 2 teaspoons of the mixture.
6. Adjust seasonings, to taste.
7. Using the sausage attachment on a mixer, stuff the meat into the casings, if being used.
8. Twist and tie off to make 4-inch sausages.
9. Alternately, shape into patties.
10. Cook sausage in usual manner, making sure the internal temperature of the sausage links reaches at least 150 degrees F.
11. Uncooked sausage can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze and use within 3 months.

Reviews

[Riverside Len]

It's pretty good. It's an Emeril Lagasse recipe and in my opinion his recipes tend to be very highly spiced and this one is no exception. <br/><br/>I reduced the paprika to 1 tablespoon, the black pepper to 1 teaspoon, the salt to one teaspoon (my preference for lower sodium, if you don't care about that it would be ok to use the amount called for) and the cayenne to 1/2 teaspoon. Maybe Emeril's cayenne is less hot than mine but I can't imagine using 1 teaspoon and still call this sausage mild. Using the 1/2 teaspoon gives this an unmistakable hint of heat. Cayenne is a very hot spice and I'm sure that using the full teaspoon in 3 pounds of meat would make your taste buds stand up and take notice.<br/><br/>Overall, I liked this sausage pretty well. It is well seasoned and has a more complex flavor than average Italian sausage. I used a 3.5 pound pork shoulder roast that I ground fresh. I like the procedure of seasoning the meat after you cut it but before you grind it, it makes distribution of the seasoning easy. <br/><br/> My rating is based on my alterations and not the way the recipe is written.

 

[djnix57]

I only had a lb of ground pork, so, I reduced the ingredients. I didn't have aniseed, so, I ground up some fennel to release that licorice flavor. Also, I added just a bit of sugar - I tend to do that in Italian recipes. I'll report back, when I've cooked it up, tomorrow.

 

[kelly]

We stuffed this and really enjoyed them. They have a little kick to them but not too much.