Plainest Italian Sausage

* Exported from MasterCook *

PLAINEST ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Meats Italian

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
8 Foot of sausage casing,
- packed in salt
1 1/2 lb Boneless pork
1/2 lb Fresh pork fat
1 tb Salt
1/2 ts Freshly ground black pepper
2 ts Fennel seeds
- lightly crushed
2 tb Dry red wine

SCRAPE THE LOOSE SALT OFF the sausage casing and set the casing in a bowl
of cold water to soften for at least 30 minutes. (You will need only about
4 feet of casing for this amount of meat, but it's useful to have extra in
case of ruptures.) Cut the pork and fat into pieces that will go through
your meat grinder and grind them, using the coarse blade. Mix the salt,
pepper and fennel seeds thoroughly into the ground meat. (Hands are the
best implement.) Then mix in the wine. Drain the casing, open one end
gently with your fingers and run a stream of cold water into it, to flush
any remaining salt out of the interior. Thread the casing onto the stuffing
horn and fit the horn over the meat grinder. Feed the sausage meat through
the horn, supporting the emerging tube of sausage with your hands to
prevent rips. (Actually, sausage making is much more conveniently done with
two people.) When all the sausage meat is in the casing, lay the filled
tube on the work surface and pinch it at 4-inch intervals to produce
individual sausage links. At the same time, fill and firm any air pockets
in the casing. Tie off the links with kitchen string. Coil the sausages
onto a plate and set it, uncovered, in the refrigerator to season for 48
hours. Turn the sausages over once or twice during that time.



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