Wednesdays and Saturdays at our house are Italian days, not because we're Italian, but because we like their food! My mother's maiden name is spelled just like a town in Tuscany, which was news to her. But her dad also looked more like a wiry Sicilian than a farmer from Germany. Hard to figure it out, after all these years. But this recipe for hot Italian sausage isn't hard, and you're going to love it, because it's delicious, good for you, and passes the kid test with flying colors!
You can make this sausage and serve it alongside the pasta with a fresh steamed vegetable with a little butter. (Broccoli florets are always popular here). Or you can break it up in my basic tomato sauce, semi home made, and serve it on the pasta. And it's also nice crumbled on the pizza! or in an omelet! How about in the lasagna?! Stuff it in the ravioli! Oh! Italian sausage! How do I love thee? Let me . . . get on with it.
Hot Italian Sausage Dry Seasoning Mix
.25 t garlic powder
.25 t dried thyme
.25 t freshly ground pepper
.5 t whole fennel seeds
1 t crushed red pepper flakes (pretty hot in this quantity, so be ready)
1 t salt
1.5 t paprika
Clean out the electric coffee grinder, but don't go crazy. Leave some traces of the espresso behind. It's good. Add all the ingredients above and let her rip for a minute or so. You have now made the seasoning for 1.25 lbs. of meat (and now you should clean the grinder thoroughly, unless you like your next cup a little spicy).
Hot Italian Sausage, Super Foods Style
1 prepared Hot Italian Sausage Dry Seasoning Mix recipe
1.25 lbs. ground turkey (half a 2.5 lb. flat of Jennie-O lean ground turkey)
Drop the turkey meat into a large bowl. Sprinkle the dry seasoning evenly over the turkey until you have covered it uniformly, then work it in with ye old trusty potato masher. Repeat until all the seasoning is mixed into the meat.
Next, oil or grease a 3/4 inch deep, 3 1/2 inch diameter form to receive the meat mixture to make sausage patties. (I use the rubber end of an old Zyliss Food Chopper. You can improvise with some other old lid to something, or buy one of those metal hamburger forms. It really doesn't matter if the size varies a little. If you're adventurous and have a KitchenAid mixer with a sausage making attachment, go for it! But you'll need casing!). Using a fork, load the form with meat and make a patty that holds together without being too densely packed. Plop it out onto a large plate and go on to the next one. I can make almost six with my form.
Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat for a couple minutes, then add canola oil to cover the bottom with a shallow pool. The high sides of the oven will help prevent splatters. Fry the patties two or three at a time over medium low heat, about four minutes per side. Drain and reserve the fried patties in a warm oven as you go. That's it. Badabing, badaboom.
