This Sunday, I’m hosting the second-ever Soup Sundays event where a group of Food Advocate folks hang out and keep each other company while making a big pot of something delicious. And this week’s recipe calls for kielbasa sausage.
Sausage! One of my favourite things to make at home!
Here are my top reasons for loving kielbasa sausage making:
- Sausage is basically just seasoned meat. It brings a big punch of flavour to a dish.
- Homemade sausage has only ingredients I choose. No weird additives, fillers, or mystery meats.
- I get to control the spiciness (or not), the saltiness, the garlickiness. Well, you get the idea.
- I don’t need a fancy meat grinder or smoker or any contraptions at all. Of course, if I ever move into a house, I will dive into Michael Ruhlman’s book, Charcuterie, and start processing various meats and sausages. But for now, I can adequately duplicate the flavour profile by combining the right balance of spices to pre-ground pork.
- It’s easy! Especially if I make a big batch of the spice blend and keep it around for the next time I want to make sausage.
So my point is that making the kielbasa sausage from scratch gives me the benefit of the sausage’s flavours without compromising on quality or ingredient control.
For this Sunday’s recipe, I will use this recipe for inspiration for my kielbasa sausage. Note, I haven’t tried this recipe yet, and because I’m not smoking the sausage or putting it in casings, there will be some serious modifications. However, based on the herbs and spices involved, I have a feeling it will be delicious. When seasoning ground pork, I highly recommend following the recipe and then frying up a teaspoon or so to see if the flavour profile matches what you were expecting – at least in terms of saltiness and heat. That way, you can adjust the seasonings before adding the sausage to whatever dish you’re cooking.
Here are my modifications. I have included spice quantities for both one pound of sausage and the full five pounds as indicated in the original recipe, in case you want to mix a big batch of the spice blend for later.
Kielbasa Sausage
Print RecipeIngredients
- (1 pound) 5 pounds of ground pork
- (1/2 teaspoon) 1 tablespoon of garlic, chopped if fresh
- (1/2 teaspoon) 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
- (1/2 teaspoon) 1 tablespoon of fine sea salt (table salt would be fine in a pinch)
- (1 teaspoon) 1 tablespoon of sugar
- (1 teaspoon) 2 tablespoons of paprika
- (1/4 teaspoon) 1 teaspoon of ground celery seed (optional)
- (1/4 teaspoon) 1 teaspoon of marjoram
- (1/8 teaspoon) 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- (1/8 teaspoon) 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander seed
- (1/8 teaspoon) 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
Instructions
- Combine all the spices.
- Incorporate the spice blend into the ground pork by hand.
