I recently decided to pitch in with my friends John and Joe on the equipment needed to make real sausage. We bought the real deal, a professional grade meat grinder, and we’ve made several batches so far. Each time is a learning experience (primarily through making numerous mistakes). We’ve made Italian pork sausage a couple of times, and a batch of venison sausages or two (one recent rendition is pictured below). But the most important recipe we’ve made so far is my friend John’s Auntie Jan’s recipe for butifarra. John hails from Melbourne, Australia, and the butifarra comes from the Spanish side of his family, via Barcelona (his granddad hailed from that city, and was a well-known restaurateur in Melbourne). It’s an obligatory tradition in John’s house at Christmas time, and I have enjoyed learning the process. He and I made a large batch of butifarra last month, for the holidays, and I thought I’d share the recipe here. The key is the white pepper. Thanks to him, and to Auntie Jan!
9lbs.pork shoulder (a little bit of fat through it but not too much )
Rind of pork as well in one piece.
Take ALL fat off back of it and boil for half an hour then mince finely. While still hot add to pork shoulder mince
Mix thoroughly
18eggs used for this recipe—-use 3 eggs approx per lb [seems simple ‘rithmetic wasn’t Auntie J’s strong suit – ed]
Salt & Pepper—-LEVEL TEASPOONS
1 and a half teaspoons of salt to each pound of pork
1 teaspoon of WHITE pepper per pound
Add eggs 1 at a time,mix in well then salt & pepper and again mix well
Sausage Skins
Feed sausage skins onto funnel on machine and slowly feed mixture into skins gently twisting folding sausages and tying as you go
Put sausages into large pot of water with a few quarters of lemon. Bring to boil gently and simmer gently for ten minutes only
Remove and hang out to cool and dry (over a broomstick handle is ideal)
FoodIowa 