My Italian sausage is usually store bought. Jimmy Dean. Johnsonville, or a store brand. Well, these are great but, you can make your own homemade Italian sausage, using just ground pork or pork butt that is ground. (Grind your own with an attachment on your mixer or with a food processor). If you can find pork on sale, you could make a lot of sausage and freeze portions for later use. This is super easy and very tasty, and can be modified to your own tastes.
I used the ingredients which I think provide a nice Italian flavor. Fennel for one is always in Italian sausage giving a sweet yet tangy flavor.
Garlic and a little crushed red pepper flakes for flavor and a little heat. If you like hotter sausage, add a little more pepper flakes.
Oregano, thyme, and some chopped parsley round out the flavors in the sausage.
Brown the fennel seed in a heavy skillet on medium heat. Stir seeds continually until they are browned, about 5 minutes. Cool and then grind in a spice grinder, (or a coffee grinder). If you don’t have a grinder, you can leave them whole.
In a bowl, add the spices and then mix in the ground pork.
Browned fennel seeds
Use immediately or freeze for up to 3 months
Have your homemade Italian sausage with some homemade marinara sauce like this one.
Serve with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Our pasta meal was excellent as always.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 lbs ground pork , 80% lean
- 1 ½ tsp fennel seed toasted and ground
- 1 tbsp parsley , coarse chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Brown the fennel seed in a heavy skillet on medium heat. Stir seeds continually until they are browned, about 5 minutes. Cool and then grind in a spice grinder, (or a coffee grinder). If you don't have a grinder, you can leave them whole.
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate.
- Allow the flavors to meld by aging a day or two, or can be used right away.
- Brown the Italian sausage with 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet.
Thanks John and Flora. I think you’ve had my marinara and sausage before. Fun and tasty to make!
Flora and I just finnished dinner and we read your
recipe on italian sausage with picture and we got
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