Nennis Italian Pork Sausage Food

NENNI'S ITALIAN PORK SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Combine the pork cubes with the garlic powder, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, and parsley; grind through a coarse plate. Mix in the white wine and grind again. Stuff into the rinsed hog casings, twisting into 4-inch lengths. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the seasonings to infuse into the meat before cooking or freezing.

LOW SODIUM ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Crush the "leafy" basil, sage, oregano, pepper flakes and fennel seed in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle until ground or they are lightly powdered.
• Mix the ground spice in with all the other spices in a small bowl and whisk well to remove any clumps.
• Sprinkle the spice mixture and remaining ingredients over the ground meat and knead well until the spices are evenly distributed throughout the meat.
• Refrigerate overnight to let the spice flavors infuse into the meat. If you try to cook the meat immediately, it will have very little flavor as the spices need time to develop.
• You can also add an (1) egg and (1) slice dried breadcrumbs to bulk up regular sausage patties.
• Form into patties, links or crumbles
• Cook over medium heat to an internal temperature of 160°F or until outside surface is light to medium brown. About 8 to 9 minutes total and there is no pink remaining. Since it is lean do not overcook or the meat will turn out very dry. Usually fat gives it a "moistness" that helps carry the flavor.

SEASONING FOR GROUND PORK (ITALIAN-STYLE SAUSAGE)

Steps:

• Add this mix to 2 pounds ground pork and brown meat in a skillet for about 10-12 minutes or until the pork is well browned.
• Use in recipes that require Italian sausages removed from casings.

GARLIC AND FENNEL SEED SAUSAGE RECIPE

Steps:

• Set the bowl into which the meat gets ground on ice.
• Assemble the grinder attachment onto the Kitchen Aid
• Take a portion of the meat out of the fridge/freezer. We divided our meat into 3 batches so we could have 3 different sausage flavors; each batch was 2.5-3 lbs. The specific recipe above is for one of these batches.
• Make sure everything is very, very cold. This will make the grinding process easier and is better for health and sanitation reasons (bacteria multiplies in warmth). I cut the pork into slices, laid it on a sheet pan and put it in the freezer for about half an hour. This made it very firm and much easier for us to cut into the 1" cubes. We then laid the cubes of meat back on the sheet pan for another 1/2 an hour to get them firm again. I also put the metal grinding blades in the freezer.
• Follow the instructions with the kitchen aid and be careful. The wooden pusher comes in really handy. If you are short, like we are, you may have to stand on something to get enough leverage to push down on the meat.
• Make sure you have a good mix of meat and fat as you push it through the grinder. Watch your fingers!
• Once the ground meat and fat are in the bowl, combine with seasonings and liquid using using the paddle attachment and bowl of the Kitchen Aid mixer. Mix on medium for about 2 minutes and chill the ground meat again until very cold.
• NOTE: We ground the meat into the bowl, added our seasonings, then mixed it with the paddle attachment for about 2 minutes as per the instructions in Charcuterie. What we did not do was season the meat before grinding it, as the book suggests. I don't think skipping this step changed anything as we let the seasoned ground meat rest overnight.
• Once the meat was seasoned, we cooked up a little patty so we could taste it and check. This is an important step. With each batch, we added seasonings to correct to our palate.
• Put the casings on the extruder tube. This was a bit arduous as the natural casings have variations which make it difficult at times to slide them onto the tube. Many jokes of questionable taste were made during this process.
• The stuffing process definitely had a learning curve to it. This is where it pays to have two people; one to push the meat into the extruder and the other to pull the sausage off at the same rate it's being extruded. It is possible to twist the sausage into links as it comes off, but this is not a skill we mastered the first time around. Instead, we let it coil into one long length and then formed the links later.
• To link the sausages, tie off the end and twist a length (4' to 6") of filled sausage one direction. To make the next sausage, twist the next length in the opposite direction. Repeat.

HOMEMADE MILD ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• 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. Refrigerate covered overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Pass the mixture through a meat grinder fitted with a medium die. (Alternately, transfer to a food processor in 2 batches and process until finely ground.) To test the seasoning, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small skillet, and cook about 2 teaspoons of the mixture. Adjust seasonings, to taste.
• Using the sausage attachment on a mixer, stuff the meat into the casings, if being used. Twist and tie off to make 4-inch sausages. Alternately, shape into patties. Cook sausage in usual manner, making sure the internal temperature of the sausage links reaches at least 150 degrees F. Uncooked sausage can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days or freeze and use within 3 months.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFED PORK CHOP

Steps:

• Stuffing: In large a rondeau or heavy bottomed pot over medium-low heat, add butter and olive oil, then sweat onion, celery and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add sausage, and allow it to cook through, stirring often. Add spinach and toasted croutons. Mix well then add chicken stock, cream and parsley. Cook until thickens. Add cheese and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Allow stuffing to cool.
• Pork Chops: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Make a 1-inch incision with a knife right next to the bone of the pork chop. Work the knife inside the pork chop to make a pocket for the stuffing. With a piping tool or simply with your hands, stuff the pork chop with the stuffing mixture until the pocket is packed well. Season the pork chop with salt and black pepper. Heat a large skillet and add oil. Sear both sides, about 1 minute. Place skillet in oven to roast for about 10 to 12 minutes, turning chops over half way through so as not to burn. Cook pork chop to medium, and the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Anything more than medium may dry out the chop.

HOMEMADE VENISON ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• mix together all spices and vinegar.
• add to the ground meat.
• stuff in hog casings or freeze in bulk.

NENNI'S ITALIAN PORK SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Combine the pork cubes with the garlic powder, fennel seed, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, and parsley; grind through a coarse plate. Mix in the white wine and grind again. Stuff into the rinsed hog casings, twisting into 4-inch lengths. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the seasonings to infuse into the meat before cooking or freezing.