Salami, Capicolla, Sausages (Italian Sausage & Sopressata recipe)

This past year I had the opportunity to make my own salumi, capicolla, pancetta, tessa and sausage. I made soppresata, tuscan, genoa, hunters loop, and cacciatore salamis. These were made without the use of nitrates for the most part and the recipes I came up with are actually quite simple. You just need time, patience quality ingredients and a place with a constant temperature and humidity to age your meats. Lucky for me I had the use of a full butcher shop, state of the art aging coolers, but all this isn't necessary. I have many friends who around this time every year put up there own charcuterie.

One of these friends is still extremely old school. His father who is about 75 still picks up 2 pigs every January brings them home in through the trap door in the garage floor to the cantina in the basement where he butchers the hogs and breaks them down. The hind legs for prosciutto, belly for pancetta, loins for lonza, cheeks for guanciale, the head for testa, etc, etc. Oh, did I forget to mention, he brings the pigs home live. It is something his father and the men in his family have done for generations.

Now for some recipes. These are a combination of learning from others, reading and practice.

Italian Sausage

Large hog casings, well rinsed
Ground Pork Shoulder 10lb.

Spice mixture
Sea salt - 80 grams
Butcher grind black pepper - 15 grams
Rubbed Sage - 4 grams
Cayenne - 1 gram
Crushed Chiles - 5 grams
Fresh Garlic - 15 grams (finely chopped)
Wild Fennel Seed - 10 grams
Dextrose - 15 grams
Ice Water - 140 grams

Combine all the salt and spices into one mixture. Add all the ingredients together and mix well. Make a test with a couple of ounces of sausage mixture by cooking a small patty to check the seasoning and adjust to your preference. Let the sausage mix
rest for a couple of hours so the flavours can develop.

You are now ready to stuff your sausages. If you are lucky enough to have an attachment for a kitchen aid use that. If you are not so lucky and do not have any type of sausage stuffer you can use a piping bag with a large tip. Stuff the casings until firm, but not over stuffed. Once you have stuffed the sausages let them hang for 12 to 24 hours before you cook them to; 1 let the flavours fully develop and 2 to let the casings set up.
Notes
-When I prepare my meat I separate all the lean meat and fat to insure the proper ratio of fat. A sausage that is to lean will be dry and so I recommend 20% fat by weight. It is also very important to keep the meat very cold at all times. A good butcher will make sure you get the right ratio of lean to fat and that proper grind.
-I prefer to use Atlantide from Portugal, but any quality sea salt will do. If sea salt is not available to you, Diamond Kosher salt is a reasonable substitute - you may need a little extra in this case.
-Substitute anise seed or regular fennel seed if wild fennel is not available). I also lightly toast my fennel and then grind it slightly in a coffee grinder.
-Dextrose is a simple sugar that is available in health food stores, wine making shops and some bulk stores. Dextrose is not nearly as sweet as regular sugar, so if you are going to substitute regular sugar, use organic cane sugar at about 5-6 grams.

Sopressata

10 lb. ground pork (25% fat by weight)

Spice mixture
sea salt 125 grams
dextrose 45 grams
crushed chiles 20 grams
butcher black pepper 30 grams
2 grams thyme
35 grams fresh garlic, finely chopped
2 grams nutmeg, grated from whole
125 grams spring water