Learn how the sausage is made with this down-to-earth recipe. It'll be easier than you think.
Spicy Italian Sausage
Chef Jeremy Chernock
10
12 hours
1 hours 30 minutes
Italian
Entrée
No casings? No problem. This sausage can be made with or without. Also, you can purchase a meat grinder attachment for your mixer. Failing that, a food processor works.
Ingredients
45 oz boneless pork shoulder, cut into chunks
2 tbsp ice water
2 tbsp white wine
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp fennel seeds
1 ½ tsp red pepper flakes
Hog casings, rinsed (optional)
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Sheet Tray
Food Processor
Mixing Bowls
Nonstick Frying Pan
Directions
Place the pork on a rimmed baking sheet, transfer to the freezer, and chill until crunchy on the exterior but not frozen solid. Roughly 30-60 minutes, we call this “open freezing.”
In a medium bowl, add the ice water, wine, salt, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine.
Nest a large mixing bowl in a larger bowl that’s filled with ice. Grind the pork through the small die of a grinder into the bowl set in ice.
Add the spice mixture to the meat and stir with your hands until well incorporated; the mixture will look homogenous and will begin sticking to the bowl.
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture into a nonstick frying pan spread into a thin patty. Cook the test patty over low heat until cooked through but not browned. Taste the sausage for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Press a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap directly on the surface of the meat to prevent oxidation, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Alternatively, you can vacuum-seal it.
Leave the sausage uncased, or stuff into hog casings and twist into links. Cook right away or freeze for longer storage. Cased sausages can be grilled to an internal temperature of 145°F.