Italian sausage is out of this world. Now I’m not talking about commercial, preservative laden frozen sausages you find in the stores. I mean fresh Italian sausages! I never really knew the difference before moving to Italy. But now that I know, and have made homemade sausages, let me share a few tips with you =)
When buying sausages, make sure you buy quality pork meat…organic preferably. Buy the chunks of pork meat and have the butcher grind them for you. That way, you can control what goes in your sausage and can assure there are no preservatives, mixed meat, etc. Or, if your mixer has a sausage attachment, just make your own sausages from the ground pork you bought and stuff them in the casing….would you believe I once used a cookie press and a pastry tip to make my sausages since I didn’t have a sausage attachment for my mixer…..that’s another story! =) If trying out sausage making for the first time look into buying an attachment for your mixer. Homemade sausages are really the best you can get =)
Recipe for Homemade Sausages…..alla Italiana!
1 Kilo (2.2 lbs) of ground pork meat
Casing
1 cup of red wine
6-8 garlics, finely diced
2-3 TBSP fennel seeds
1 TBSP red chili flakes
Salt \ Pepper, to taste
Mix all the ingredients together until well incorporated and stuff the sausages in the casing according to the directions instructed for your machine or mixer attachment.
Marinade for Fresh Sausages (….Prepare at least 4 hours before cooking….I just leave it overnight in the fridge)
1 cup of red wine
2 TBSP olive oil
5 garlics, chopped
4-5 Bay leaves
Place your sausage in a glass dish….here I’m using my trusty old Pyrex….. (I prefer using glass whenever marinating due to the fact that I don’t like marinating with wine in plastic containers as I feel it alters the taste of the food).
Next, poke holes along the sausage and insert a piece of garlic in each hole. Then, pour the olive oil and wine over the sausage….this allows full marination of flavors. Add the bay leaves on top along with any left over garlic pieces. Cover and let marinate.
Now, once marinated just place on the stove top grill, BBQ, or in a pan. Delicious! So try it and let me know what you think =)
Buon Appetito!
Wanita =)
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6 Comments
I don’t have a machine but I’m wondering if these can be made into patties? If so does that change anything with the marinade?
Linda
Hi Linda =) I think you can surely try! They obviously won’t have a casing to them. It should not affect the marinade. Try it and let me know =)
Wanita, I tried the sausage today as patties. It went well and it tastes wonderful! The only issue I had was that the mixture seemed “wet” and looked like it wouldn’t hold together (I only did 1/2 a recipe to see if we would like it). Since it was pretty “loose” I decided to add an egg to keep it together. I think one egg would have been enough for the full recipe. I ended up letting it sit in the container on my counter so it would dry a bit. Four hours before I actually used it, I put it in the marinade but honestly I think it was tasty enough without it. I let the patties drain and then cooked them Delish! What I love is that I know exactly what ingredients are in the sausage and there are no added nitrates, sugar or weird ingredients! I also like that I can make them the size I WANT. We both need to cut back a bit with meat servings so by making them myself I can do as I please.
The next time I make them this way, I will make the full recipe but cut back a little on the wine (maybe 3/4 cup) and add just the one egg. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It really surprised me that garlic, fennel, salt & pepper plus the wine, bay leaves and pork gave a great tasting Italian sausage patty!
Linda
Hi Linda! Thank you for taking the time to let me, and other readers, know how it turned out for you! You are very welcome…and thank you for the tips you gave! =)
These look & sound wonderful. I will definitely be trying out the recipe. Just like Linda, I love the idea that I will know exactly what went into them. So tired of all the garbage that is in our food these days.
Hi Brenda =) Yes, do try them and let us know how they turned out for you!