Cotechino
A few years have passed since I made this somewhat unique Italian sausage. Not exactly something which I was pining for, but I had a growing collection of pork skins in the freezer it was time to do something with them. Because of the skin content Cotechino has that distinctive porky aroma and flavour that even the aromatic spices can't hide. Let's just say that you either like it or you don't, much like other offal sausages. This is my latest version, a little different than the previous ones. After cooking the Cotechino we made the traditional lentil dish, even though it was not even close to New Year's Eve, and I also fried a few slices with eggs for breakfast. The rest is in the freezer.
Recipe for 1kg
Meats
Lean Pork 450g
Pork belly 100g
Pork back fat 100g
Pork skins 350g
Ingredients
Smoked salt – 18g
Cure #1 – 1g
Coarse black pepper – 3g
Cinnamon – 1g
Ground cloves – 1g
Garlic powder – 1.5g
Homemade Sangiovese - 20ml
Instructions
1. Lean meat, belly and fat ground with 8mm plate. Skins (with fat almost completely removed), ground with 4.5mm plate.
2. Meats and ingredients mixed well and stuffed into 45mm hog casings.
3. Sausage conditioned in fridge overnight.
4. Here we have the option to cook it or freeze and cook when needed, I chose the former. The Cotechino was poached at around 80C(175F) for 2.5 hours. Cool with water for several minutes, hang to dry foor an hour or so, and refrigerate or freeze.
