Our family thrives on homemade sausage, it’s a favorite for any meal. We’ve tried various pre-made sausage mixes and brats over the years and have been disappointed that so many contain sugar, too much salt or spice, or a myriad of questionable ingredients. Since some of us don’t like casings at all, we rely on our easy homemade country sausage recipe.
2 Tablespoons sage
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons honey (less or none if you prefer)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more if you like it hot)
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 pinch ground cloves
2 pounds ground pork
Add ground meat to large mixing bowl and throughly mix in all dry spices and honey. If I’m planning ahead, I prefer to prepare the sausage mix a day in advance and let the spices and flavors meld in the fridge (covered) overnight, just a few hours is ok too. Making patties is fun, I usually aim for around 3oz patties to yield 5 patties per pound. If you’re extra hungry or in a hurry, skip the patties and just add the loose sausage mix into the skillet and cook until well browned or to your preference. We’ve also cooked it like a meatloaf in a cast iron pan in the oven.
We typically cook eggs and/or greens in the remaining pork fat. If potatoes are available, I shred them in the food processor the night before and soak in vinegar water overnight to fry for hash browns with my sausage and eggs the next morning. Be sure potatoes are throughly dry before frying in remaining pork fat! We enjoy this sausage with eggs cooked any style (including omelettes and frittatas), on top of salad, with mixed greens, wrapped in a tortilla, or mixed with rice.
We love the sage, marjoram, clove trio, I think it really makes the sausage. We’ve experimented a lot with the red pepper flakes. We’ve used red chile powder, cayenne, and just about every red pepper grown and dried in the Rio Grande Valley. Remember, you don’t have to limit this recipe to ground pork, you can also use beef or even a combination of your favorite ground meats. Have fun and enjoy, there probably won’t be any leftovers!
Stay Nourished,
Brenna
