Looking for one with fennel and some heat like a good pizza joint uses. Loose style and not in any casing. Totally craving lasagna with it. Anyone have one? Or at least point me in the right direction? All store bought stuff I ever had fails miserably and way off the mark.
Thanks in advance!
Buongiorno, buonasera o buon pomeriggio, a seconda dell’orario in cui ti trovi negli Stati Uniti
Since I’m not only new here but also from the “old world” — meaning I live part time in Liguria, Italy — I’d like to share the original recipe from one of the nonnas in a small village up in the Ligurian mountains. You can add it to pretty much anything that was mentioned above. Enjoy trying it out.
You’ll have to excuse me, but coming from the old world, I still use metric units—grams and kilograms.
In Ligurian Italian sausage, there is no paprika, chili peppers, or any other spicy ingredients. Instead, the heat is adjusted using black pepper. The distinctive flavor can be tuned by the amount of fennel, which should be freshly ground.
Ligurian Salsiccia
==================================
MEAT, FAT & LIQUID
------------------
- Pork shoulder: 650 g
- Pork belly: 350 g
Total batch: 1000 g
SEASONING & INGREDIENTS
-----------------------
(per kg of total batch -> amount for your batch; spices always in grams)
- Sea salt: 18 g/kg -> 18 g for this batch
- Black pepper: 3 g/kg -> 3 g for this batch
- White wine, dry : 40 g/kg -> 40 g for this batch
- Nutmeg: 1 g/kg -> 1 g for this batch
- Cinnamon: 0.5 g/kg -> 0.5 g for this batch
- Cloves: 0.3 g/kg -> 0.3 g for this batch
It is a delicately spiced fresh sausage from the Liguria, Italy — milder and more refined than the rustic sausages of southern Italy, thanks to white wine, nutmeg, cinnamon and a whisper of clove. Meat: pork shoulder or leg (lean) and pork belly (pancetta), rind removed. Wine: a dry Ligurian white, ideally Vermentino. Nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves: the gram values above are an approximate conversion from 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a small pinch of ground cloves — freshly grated/ground is best. Casing: natural hog casing, caliber 28/30, or a finer sheep casing.
Method:
1. Chill the meat: cut the shoulder and belly into rough cubes. Place in the freezer for 30–45 minutes — the meat should be ice-cold and just starting to firm up, so the fat doesn't smear during grinding.
2. Grind: pass the meat through the medium plate of your grinder (4.5–6 mm). The Ligurian style is somewhat finer in texture than the rustic southern Italian versions. But every time they produced a new batch of sausage in the village, the texture and consistency would turn out slightly different.
3. Mix the spices: combine the salt with the pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and ground cloves. Sprinkle evenly over the ground meat, then pour the white wine over it.
4. Knead: work the mixture firmly with cold hands or the dough hook of a stand mixer for about 5 minutes. The meat needs to build a noticeable bind and turn slightly tacky. Since we also hunt wild boar in our area, the sausage is sometimes made from wild boar, or from a mix of half domestic pork and half wild boar. In that case, it becomes drier and less fatty.
5. Stuff: flush the natural casing thoroughly with lukewarm water. Slide it onto the stuffing tube. Fill the batter in without air pockets, then twist into links every 10–12 cm.
6. Vent and rest: prick any air bubbles with a fine needle. Hang the sausages uncovered in the fridge for 12–24 hours. This will dry the casing surface, firms up the texture, and will give more flavor.
You can do whatever you want with it—fry it, cook it, split open the casing and add it to a pasta sauce, or put it on the barbecue, whatever works for you.
Nice to be here!
Ligurian Salsiccia
==================================
MEAT, FAT & LIQUID
------------------
- Pork shoulder: 1 lb 6.9 oz
- Pork belly: 12.3 oz
Total batch: 2 lb 3.3 oz
SEASONING & INGREDIENTS
-----------------------
(per kg of total batch -> amount for your batch; spices always in grams)
- Sea salt: 18 g/kg -> 18 g for this batch
- Black pepper: 3 g/kg -> 3 g for this batch
- White wine: 40 g/kg -> 40 g for this batch
- Nutmeg: 1 g/kg -> 1 g for this batch
- Cinnamon: 0.5 g/kg -> 0.5 g for this batch
- Cloves: 0.3 g/kg -> 0.3 g for this batch
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