Hot Italian Sausage

Name: Hot Italian Sausage
Yield: Makes about 2 pounds
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: ½ teaspoon dried thyme; ½ pound fresh pork fat, cut into ½-inch dice and chilled; 1½ to 1¾ pounds lean, trimmed pork, cut into 1-inch dice and chilled; 1 teaspoon fennel seeds; ½ teaspoon very finely minced garlic; 2½ teaspoons coarse (kosher) salt; ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns; 3 to 6 dried hot red peppers (each about 1½ inches long), seeds removed, or 1 to 2 teaspoons crushed dried red pepper flakes; 1 tablespoon paprika

Preparation info

Makes about
2 pounds

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Better Than Store-Bought

By Helen Witty and Elizabeth Schneider

Published 1979

About

For those who prefer a hotter, more complicated flavor, this is a worthy rival to our own favorite, Sweet Italian Sausage.

Ingredients

2½ teaspoons coarse (kosher) salt
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
3 to 6

Europe
Italy
Main course
Mediterranean
Spicy
Gluten-free

Method

Combine the salt, peppercorns, hot peppers, paprika, thyme, and fennel in a spice mill or a mortar and grind to a coarse texture, not a powder. Mix in a small bowl with the garlic.
Combine the meat, fat, and spices in a large bowl.
Put half the mixture in the container of a food processor and process to a medium-coarse grind (if you are using a