Italian Sausage Sweet Food

HOMEMADE SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE (MILD OR HOT)

Steps:

• Place the pork and red wine vinegar in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, paprika, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, brown sugar, oregano, and thyme. Knead until flecks of spice are evenly distributed through the sausage.
• Divide the sausage into thirds, and form into 3 logs; wrap each in plastic wrap. Place wrapped sausage into a freezer bag before freezing, or store in refrigerator for at least 12 hours before cooking.

SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Get out about 15 to 20 feet of hog casings and soak them in warm water.
• Cut the meat and fat into chunks you can fit into your meat grinder. Mix together the salt, sugar, half the fennel seeds, black pepper, nutmeg, oregano and fennel pollen, then mix this with the meat and fat until every piece has a little on it. Put in the freezer until the meat and fat are between 30°F and 40°F. Put your grinder parts (auger, dies, blades, etc) in the freezer, too, and put a bowl in the fridge.
• Grind half of the mixture through the coarse die on your grinder, and half through the fine die. This creates a more interesting texture. If your meat mixture is still at 35°F or colder, you can go right to binding. If it has heated up, you need to chill everything back down. Use this time to clean up the grinder.
• Once the meat is cold, put it in a large bin or bowl and add the remaining fennel seeds, white wine and parsley. Mix well with your (very clean) hands for 2 to 3 minutes -- a good indicator of temperature is that your hands should ache with cold when you do this. You want to to mix until the meat binds to itself. You can also do this in a stand mixer set on its lowest setting, but I find you don't get as good a bind as you do when you do this by hand.
• You now have Italian sausage. You can leave it loose, form it into patties, or link it. I link mine most of the time. Put the loose sausage into a stuffer and thread a casing onto it. Stuffing sausage is easier with two people, one to fill the links, the other to coil, but I do it solo all the time. Stuff the links well but not super-tight, as you will not be able to tie them off later if they are too full. Don't worry about air pockets yet. Stuff the whole casing, leaving lots of room on either end to tie them off; I leave at least three inches of unstuffed casing on either end of the coil.
• To form the individual links, tie off one end of the coil. Now pinch off two links of about six inches long. Rotate the link between your hands forward a few times. (Here's a quick video on making the links) Look for air pockets. To remove them, set a large needle or a sausage pricker into a stovetop burner until it glows (this sterilizes it), then pierce the casing at the air pockets. Twist the links a little and gently compress them until they are nice and tight. Repeat this process with the rest of the sausage.
• Hang your links on a wooden clothes drying rack for at least an hour, or up to overnight if you can hang them in a place that doesn't get any warmer than 40°F or so. This lets the links cure a little, filling their casings and developing flavor. Once you've taken the links off the hanger, they can be refrigerated for up to 3 or 4 days, or frozen for up to a year.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE SWEET

Steps:

• To prepare casings: Let casings soak in cool water about five minutes to remove salt on outer surface (no longer, or they will become too tender to stuff) and flush salt from the inside by placing one end on faucet nozzle and turn on cold tap water (if you see holes or water leaking, cut and discard).
• Remove casing from faucet and gently squeeze out water; cover rinsed casings and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Mix all ingredients very well in a large bowl (you're looking for a moist but not runny mixture).
• Fill the casings with the mixture and make links by twisting the sausage where you wish the links to be.
• Four inches is a good size for a regular serving, smaller links may be made for appetizer servings.
• Place the sausage in large saucepan or dutch oven in a single layer; cover and heat over high heat to a low simmer.
• Reduce heat to maintain low simmer (sausages may burst if cooked at too high a heat) until the sausage is heated through, approximately 15 minutes.
• Drain and let rest for about 15 minutes before slicing; serve while warm.

SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PENNE PASTA

Steps:

• Boil the water and cook the penne according to package directions. DO NOT ever add oil to the water! It will make your sauce slide off the pasta later.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil (medium-high heat) in a large skillet and saute the broccoli, sausage and garlic until tender and starting to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Toss the butter, hot pasta, sausage mixture and romano cheese together and serve. Pass the grated cheese at the table.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE (SWEET OR HOT)

Steps:

• Add 2 tsp crushed red peppers for HOT sausage.
• Combine all ingredients, mix well and stuff into hog casing or make patties.

SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Place all the ingredients except the salt in a large bowl, and knead with your hands until thoroughly blended. Cook and taste a small sample, then add the salt if needed. Leave in bulk and shape as directed in individual recipes or stuff into hog casing. Cover and refrigerate for several hours, or preferably overnight, to allow the flavors to blend.
• Sauté or grill, or cook as directed in individual recipes. (The uncooked sausage will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 week.)

SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil on medium-high heat in a large dutch oven.
• Add half of italian sausage and saute until golden brown.
• Remove cooked sausage and repeat with remaining sausage.
• Remove all sausage and set aside.
• Add chopped onions and minced garlic to pot. Turn heat to medium low and saute 5 minutes.
• Add tomato paste and saute until onions develop nice golden color. Stir frequently and WATCH CAREFULLY to make sure the tomato paste doesn't burn.
• Once the onions are golden, add the wine and stir, incorporating all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add all remaining ingredients and browned sausage to pot and stir well.
• Turn heat to medium low and simmer 45 minutes.