FENNEL SAUSAGE

Ever made your own sausage? It's not difficult at all, you know exactly what's going into it, and IT'S DELICIOUS!

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs pork shoulder
2 lbs chicken thighs
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp onion powder
½ tbsp dried basil
½ tbsp dried oregano
1 ½ tbsp fennel seeds, ground (grind in spice grinder or with mortar and pestle)
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
½ tsp dried sage
½ tsp sweet paprika

Tools
Large bowl 
Cutting board 
Knife
Meat grinder 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Freeze your ingredients for an hour (just to get them really cold) and refrigerate your grinding parts (sounds crazy but it makes a big difference with the grinding). Cut the pork and chicken into 1-inch cubes.
2. Place all of the ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate this mixture while you set up your meat grinder.
3. Using a meat grinder, coarsely grind the mixture. Send the mixture through the grinder slowly, so that you do not create a jam.
4. After sending all of the sausage mixture through the grinder once, grind it using the coarse grind plate a second time.
5. You can shape the mixture into sausage patties at this point, if you would like. I'm not doing the whole casing thing at this point - just patties which then I break off pieces for the pizza sausage bites.
6. I like to pre-cook the sausage a bit before putting it on the pizza. Heat 4 – 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, and fry the sausages over a medium heat until they are light golden on all sides. This will take about 7 mins. They will cook all the way through when you cook your pizza.