Spicy Italian Sausage

We asked the geniuses at the Meat Hook in Brooklyn to teach us the secrets of their craft, starting with these spicy Italian links. While this project requires effort and poses some difficulty—and you’ll need special equipment—even a novice can achieve pro results. (Watch the step-by-step video for making sausages at home here.) Looking for a different flavor profile? How about our recipes for Lamb Masala Sausage, Green Chorizo, or Boerewors?

A few things to note: If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer, add the food grinder attachment and sausage stuffer kit—a super-reliable setup for batches this size. If you don’t have a stand mixer, a manual grinder with a 3⁄8" grinding plate and stuffing attachment (like the LEM #10 Clamp On Hand Grinder) is a decent option. Cut the meat into 1⁄2" pieces and freeze completely, then grind one piece at a time. It’s time-consuming and laborious, but, hey, this is a project. And if don’t want to buy anything, have a butcher grind the meat. Oh, and a word on casing: Buy 29- to 32-mm all-natural hog casings at a butcher shop or sausagemaker.com. Preloaded or pretubed ones are easiest to work with. Or forgo the casing altogether and season and shape the sausage into patties or meatballs, or just use it loose (think about how often you take it out of the casing). It tastes just as good!

Oh, and remember to grill your sausages over medium-low heat so they don’t burst. Or deploy them across all kinds of Italian dishes, pasta sauces, hearty soups and stews, or any of these sausage recipes.