Traditional Homemade Sicilian Sausage
Traditional Homemade Sicilian
Sausage
Throughout the busy years I've
tried a variety of store bought Italian sausages that are okay but never match
the quality of Italian sausage my Grandfather made when I was a child. I've
always had the recipe for this great tasting sausage but never had the time to
make it.
Yes, making your own sausage
takes plenty of time and you need plenty of help in the kitchen to prepare such
a family recipe. Anyone who has ever made Italian sausage before knows that you
start out as the sausage holder not the mixer. The mixer is the person who
mixes all the ingredients for the stuffer to make the sausage with.
If you are not experienced
with grinding, mixing or stuffing then you get to hold the sausage in the front
so the casing doesn't break and to make sure all the air bubbles are out. Not
until you master this technique can you work your way up through the ranks of
grinder, mixer and stuffer.
Traditional Homemade Sicilian Sausage |
For generations Sicilians have
been making sausages in there own special way. Each town or each home would
produce a different type of family sausage. The type of meat varied as well as
the spice mixture that was used. Each home would at least have one thing in
common and that would be the sausage grinder and stuffing machine.
So you can imagine how happy I
was when my Aunt asked if I wanted my Grandfather's sausage making equipment.
Yes I know I can buy attachments for my Kitchen Aid or food processor to do the
job but we all know it won't taste the same as putting the meat through fifty
pounds of cold steel attached to side of your kitchen table. There's something
about spending hours grinding, mixing and stuffing by hand that gives the
sausage that extra love that's needed to create perfection.
Now let me remind you that
half way through this process you will definitely start to miss all of your
modern day utensils. That is why you use more people in the kitchen to pick up
the slack when your arms get tired from cranking out the meat.
So if I haven't scared you
away just yet, lets continue on the equipment you will need to create this
miracle. I'll first give you the old equipment version and then the modern
equipment version just in case you decide to take the easy way out.
The version my Aunt gave me
was the old heavy hand crank version with a grinder and sausage making
attachments. There was also a grating attachment which I remember my
Grandmother using to grate cheese and to turn stale bread into breadcrumbs.
The modern version of these
tools are simply a grinder, mixer and sausage stuffing attachments that you can
purchase with your Kitchen Aid Mixer. This method is much quicker and less
strenuous on the arms.
Here is my Grandfather's
recipe for Sicilian sausage. It can be used to make into links or you can leave
some of it in bulk to use with your favorite pasta. I usually make a sausage
cream sauce with the bulk mixture or add it to my gravy.
INGREDIENTS
25 pounds of pork shoulder
pork casings (get from butcher)
1/4 cup of whole fennel seed 1/2 cup of fresh
ground black pepper
3/4 cup of salt
1/2 cup of paprika
1/4 cup of dried basil
1/8 cup of dried oregano
1/2 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup of crushed red pepper flakes
(optional)
1/2 cup of red wine
PREPARATION
The casings overnight in salt
water.
Before using the casing rinse well and cut
into 18 inch pieces.
Keep the casings in a small bowl of warm
water.
Cut the pork into 1 inch cubes keeping some
fat on the meat so the meats stays moist.
The best ratio to this is 80% meat 20% fat.
Using the meat grinding attachment, grind the
meat into a ground pork type texture.
In a large, deep pan season the meat with the
remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix together by hand until all the spices
are blended through.
For best results I like to refrigerate the
mixture overnight t let the spices blend.
Take the meat out of the fridge and let it
stand for about 30 minutes to reach room temperature. It makes stuffing a lot
easier and doesn't clog up the tube.
Test the flavor of the sausage by frying some
up in a pan. Adjust seasoning accordingly before stuffing.
Using a tube attachment, carefully slide the
casing on the tube.
Stuff the casing with sausage mixture being
careful not break the casing. Remove any air bubbles with a toothpick. This is
a two person job. One to turn the crank to stuff the sausage and one to hold
the sausage as it's being made.
Twist the casing around every 7 inches or
however long you want.
When your finished they're
ready to cook, freeze or give away. Make sure you always get the whole family
involved when making sausage or any great Italian meal.
Enjoy!
Mangia Italiano!
0 Response to "Traditional Homemade Sicilian Sausage"
Posting Komentar