Go Back Email Link
–+ servings
Italian sausage

Sweet Italian Sausage Recipe

This is a fabulous sweet Italian sausage recipe. Sausage isn't as difficult to make as you might think. You do need a couple of kitchen tools, but once you invest in them you have them for years.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Add to My Recipes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 322 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 2 pounds pork roast, shoulder blade, trimmed boneless, chilled
  • 1 tablespoons fennel seeds, freshly cracked (see Tip)
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 cup red wine, or water
  • 4 to 5 feet hog casing, soaked

Instructions
 

  • Cut pork into pieces small enough to fit in the throat of your grinder. Using the coarse grinder plate, grind pork into a large bowl or stand mixer bowl.
    grinding sausage meat
  • Add fennel seeds, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder to the ground pork. Using your hands or the stand mixer paddle attachment, mix until seasonings are evenly distributed. Add wine and mix until white strands appear in the mixture and a handful of the mixture holds together.
  • In a small skillet, over medium-high heat, sauté a small amount of the sausage mixture until no longer pink. Taste the sample, then adjust seasonings as desired.
  • Stuff the sausage mixture into the prepared casing as directed below. Twist into 6 links, each about 6 inches (15 cm) in length.
  • Turn the grinder, stuffer or mixer on and, with one hand, slowly and steadily feed the meat mixture into the tray, pushing it down with the stopper or food pusher. With your other hand, hold the casing just beyond the end of the tube to help guide the sausage into the casing. As the meat mixture begins to fill the casing, try to maintain a consistent thickness; the casing should be full, but not to the point of bursting.
    Make sausage
  • Once all of the meat mixture is fed into the casing, cut off any excess casing and tie a knot in the open end. Gently twist the stuffed sausage into the number of links indicated in the recipe – or as desired.

Notes

Stuffing the Sausages and Twisting The Links

Once you are satisfied with the flavor of the meat mixture, it's time to stuff sausages!
First, you will need to decide which extruding tube (or funnel or horn) to use. Always use the largest tube on which the casing will fit but still move freely. You should not have to stretch the casing. The user manual that came with your equipment will help you determine the appropriate size tube for the diameter of casing you are using.
If you don't have the manual, use the smallest tube for breakfast sausage. For other sausages, you may need to use trial and error to determine the best tube to use.
Attach the extruding tube to the grinder or stuffer. Pull one end of the casing out of the bowl it is soaking in and open it with your fingers. Scoop a little water from the bowl into the casing so that it will slide on and off the tube easily. Place the open end of the casing over the extruding tube. Slide the full length of the casing onto the tube, then tie a knot in the end of the casing.

Nutrition

Calories: 322kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 51gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 1277mgPotassium: 920mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 251IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 35mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!