If you wanted to improvise Italian sausage from ground pork, what would you use?

[Kareni]

My daughter is currently living in South Korea and would like to make a couple of favorite recipes that call for Italian sausage.  She's been unable to find it; however, she can purchase ground pork.  How might she improvise Italian sausage?  I can tell it has fennel seeds.  Any suggestions?

 

Your help is appreciated.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

[PrairieSong]

My go-to place for recipes is allrecipes.com. I just looked and they have a bunch for Italian sausage. I would look for one rated by a lot of people, with a high average rating. Here's one, though I haven't tried it.

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-sweet-italian-sausage-mild-or-hot/

[Kareni]

That does look good, PrairieSong!  Many thanks for the link.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Kareni]

I add sage and anise seed.

 

Well, that certainly sounds simple!  Can you suggest quantities to add to a pound of pork?

 

And now you've had me looking to see the difference between anise and fennel since I was convinced Italian sausage had fennel in it.  I found this short piece of interest.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[zoobie]

I throw some Montreal Steak seasoning (it has onion, garlic, fennel seed, pepper...) in ground turkey to sub for it in recipes if I'm out. I usually have ground turkey in the freezer. I haven't tried it with pork, but it would probably be better! :)

[Anne in CA]

We put parsley in ours for those nice green flecks. Our recipe is too complicated for a beginner, but parsley is a nice touch.

[Anne in CA]

Oh, and I wouldn't use a recipe that didn't call for some oil. You really need it to marry the flavors.

[Kareni]

zoobie, Anne, and Isaac_Megan, thanks for all the additional ideas and details.  Now I'm starting to drool!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Marmalade]

I always make my own Italian sausage since I found a recipe that I liked.

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/italian-style-sausage/detail.aspx

 

My only change is that I don't use the anise seeds- I use fennel seeds that I crush with a mortar and pestle.  Oh, and I also add a nice drizzle of olive oil when I mix it up.  I use my own ground pork which is pretty lean, so I think it needs the oil for the proper mouth feel.  

[Kareni]

That recipe looks good, too, Erika.  The first recipe (which PrairieSong linked) requires that the blend sit for twelve hours before use while the recipe you linked indicates that it can be used immediately.  Is that what you do?  or do you find it improves with time?

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lady Marmalade]

That recipe looks good, too, Erika.  The first recipe (which PrairieSong linked) requires that the blend sit for twelve hours before use while the recipe you linked indicates that it can be used immediately.  Is that what you do?  or do you find it improves with time?

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

I think it probably improves with time, but honestly, most often I just don't think about it too far ahead of time, so I mix it up and let it sit while I get the rest of whatever I'm making ready.  At most it might sit for 30 minutes before I cook it. It really is very good.  I love it as a pizza topping, mixed into lasagna and pasta sauce, and cooked up into patties and topped with peppers and onions.  

[Lady Marmalade]

Oh, and you didn't ask, but if your DD needs a recipe for breakfast sausage, this recipe by the same guy who did that Italain style recipe is very good too.

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/breakfast-sausage/detail.aspx

 

If I have fresh sage on hand I'll chop up a few leaves and that along with the fresh sage.  

[Kareni]

Thanks for the added detail, Erika.  Thank you for the breakfast sausage recipe as well; it also looks delicious!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Ali in OR]

Thanks for this thread. Dh was just asking tonight if we could get ground pork to try to make something like sausage with less sodium and I remembered seeing this here. This helps a lot.