Carne de salchicha italiana casera

This is a recipe for homemade Italian Sausage Meat, just the meat, not actual sausages in casings. Use it for any recipe that calls for sausage meat or “bulk Italian sausage meat”, rather than squeezing meat out of sausage casings, or make patties and meatballs and fry them up!

Homemade Italian Sausage Meat

I never thought I’d have a big bowl of raw mince as a headline photo, but here we are!

I feel like there are more and more recipes these days that use sausage meat. I get why, it’s a terrific shortcut for adding loads of flavour because all the seasoning is already built in.

In the States, sausage meat is readily sold without casings in packets like beef mince, usually labelled “bulk Italian sausage”. Here in Australia, and most of the rest of the world I believe, it’s not something we commonly see, so we have to buy sausages and squeeze the meat out of the casings. Not hard, but it can be a bit tedious if you get sausages with thin casings that tear easily.

So sometimes it’s just easier and cheaper to make the sausage meat yourself. It’s dead easy, just pork mince, a handful of herbs and spices, mix, done! Ready to use in any recipe calling for sausages, or fry up sausage patties.

This is not a recipe for actual sausages!

To be clear, this recipe is just for the meat mixture inside sausage casings that is used in recipes where it is cooked like beef mince. It’s not a recipe for making actual sausages. For that, I’d be more particular about the cut of pork, fat percentage and texture of the mince to get the right juicy sausage consistency, not to mention the whole business of stuffing the meat into casings!

Ingredients in Homemade Italian Sausage Meat

Here’s what you need to make homemade Italian sausage meat. A little glug of wine (optional), fennel seeds and a pinch of red pepper flakes is what makes this Italian rather than just any generic pork sausage!

Pork mince (ground pork), Sausages are fatty, that’s why they’re so tasty and juicy! So the higher the fat percentage, the tastier your sausage meat will be. 20, 25% fat would be great, otherwise just standard pork mince (usually ~17% fat). Lean “heart smart” pork mince will also work fine, the meat just isn’t as juicy. Other proteins, Turkey and chicken will work fine too, though bear in mind they are leaner and the meat is not as soft as pork. If you’re going to cook it as mince (rather than making meatballs, patties etc) and it’s in a soup or saucy (like a Sausage Ragu) then that should be fine.

Dry red wine, Anything that’s not too sweet or woody. Pinot noir, shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, whatever you’ve got lying around. For non alcoholic, just skip this.

Spices, The spice mix is a classic Italian sausage blend: Paprika (sweet/regular, not spicy or smoked) Onion and garlic powder, you can substitute the garlic with finely grated fresh garlic Fennel seeds, key spice that gives Italian sausage its distinctive flavour, don’t skip it! Red chilli flakes (red pepper flakes), can skip for non spicy Dried basil, oregano and thyme, these are used in smaller quantities and brings a familiar Italian herb mix flavour to the sausages. Black pepper, The recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of black pepper, a good amount!

Salt, Sausages are well seasoned, which brings out the flavour of all the spices and the pork. So don’t be tempted to cut back on the salt!

How to make Homemade Italian Sausage Meat

Put everything in a bowl and mix well with your hands to combine. If time permits, refrigerate overnight to let the flavours meld, then use as called for in the recipe. To be honest, I usually skip the marinating because I’m making it for something I want to cook right now!

What to use homemade sausage meat for

So. Many. Possibilities!

Use in any recipe that calls for “bulk Italian Sausage meat” or “sausage meat removed from casings” where the meat is cooked like mince, like Creamy Tomato Orecchiette Sausage Pasta, Sausage Ragu (note: you need 700g/1.4lb of sausage meat for that one), Baked Breakfast Hash, Pork and Apple Stuffing (I am made for this!), Sausage and Egg Stuffed Potatoes. Also from DINNER, the popular Zuppa Toscana, a creamy sausage and potato soup (page 160).

Sausage patties, roll then flatten into patties and pan fry until golden, like an Italian flavoured version of these Pork Sausage Patties.

Roll into meatballs, Just switch the beef for this sausage meat in my favourite Italian Meatballs (also skip the salt else it will be too salty) or spray and bake and serve with ketchup for dipping.

Pizza, Crumble it on pizza. Think, Meat Lovers! Supreme!

Quiche, fritatta, mini frittatas or cheesy muffins, Fry it up in a little oil and use in any of these, to add little savoury pops of sausage meat! I’d keep the meat a little chunky ie when cooking it, don’t break it up finely. Or use it in place of bacon for Zucchini Slice!

Dump everything in a bowl. Mix!

If you're missing one or two herbs, it's totally fine, there's enough other flavourings to still make a tasty sausage mixture. Though if you omit fennel, you will lose the Italian touch.

Uses and storage:

1. Meat, The pork used in sausages is quite high in fat which helps make them soft and juicy. Also, fat is where most of the meat flavour is. So the higher your fat%, the tastier your sausage meat will be! However, the recipe works just fine with lean meat too, including chicken and turkey.

2. Wine is often included in traditional Italian sausages, but it’s entirely optional. If you prefer, just leave it out.

3. Fennel seeds, it’s not Italian without fennel in it! Preheat a small pan over medium heat (no oil), then toast the fennel seeds until fragrant and lightly browned. Immediately remove from pan, then once cooled, coarsely grind in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Fennel powder can be substituted but it’s not as good, fennel flavour is faded.

Keeps in the fridge for whatever the shelf life of the pork is, or freezer for 3 months.