Italian Sausage

Homemade Italian sausage from wild game is a country old school as life gets, and oh so good. Since wild game, such as deer and elk, is very lean, you will want to add some pork fat to the sausage at a ratio of 2 parts meat to 1 part fat. You can adjust the ratio for your tastes, less fat = more dry sausage. I usually find fat at the local butcher or a Mexican grocery store. My Dad, who grew up in a Polish neighborhood of Chicago, told me his buddy from High School’s Italian mom said the secret to good homemade sausage is adding a little red wine…so I do.

The recipe is provided for three pounds of sausage, but easily scales to the amount of game your using. I don’t put this in casings because the recipes I use it in, such as lasagna, want it loose. Instead, I put the sausage in one pound vacuum sealed bags. I recommend testing the recipe with one pound of ground pork from there you can adjust for your tastes. Like any good recipe, the formula for success is achieving a harmony of ingredients, with no one ingredient dominating. Keep that in mind as you adjust. The optional cayenne is because some like mild Italian sausage and some, like it hot….to borrow from Marilyn.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb Game meat – ground
  • 1 lb Pork fat – ground
  • 3 TBL Garlic – minced fine
  • 3 TBL Parsley – chopped – can use dry
  • 3 TBL Red Wine – dry
  • 3 TBL Hungarian Paprika
  • 2 TBL Kosher salt
  • 4.5 tsp Black Pepper – ground
  • 3 tsp Onion powder
  • 2 tsp Fennel powder
  • 1 tsp Anise powder
  • 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • 0.75 tsp Thyme powder
  • 0.75 tsp Rosemary powder
  • 0.75 tsp Oregano powder
  • 0.75 tsp Sage powder
  • 0.5 tsp Cayenne pepper – optional

Process

  1. Mise en Place – measure and prepare you ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Mix meat and fat – using your hands, mix the meat and fat until you have an even mixture.
  3. Seep dry ingredients
    1. Mix all the dry ingredients into a small bowl
    2. Pour enough boiling water over them to cover.
    3. Cover with plastic film and let sit until cool.
    4. Add the garlic, parsley, and red wine.
  4. Pour spice mixture over meat and work around with your hands until the spices are evenly spread.
  5. Cover sausage bowl with film and leave in the fridge over night.
  6. Prepare for Storage
    1. If storing in vacuum bags, put in bags and seal. Then freeze.
    2. If putting in casings, hydrate your casings and work meat into the tubes using a stuffer or meat grinder with a stuffer attachment. Try not to grind the meat too fine, it makes for a weird texture when you eat it.
    3. You can now either freeze the sausage tubes, or smoke them prior to freezing. I personally don’t smoke my Italian sausage.

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