How to Make French Sausage at Home
Learn how to easily make French sausages at home. They are not much different than Italian sausages other than the flavorings. In France, these sausages are called saucisses de Campagne or country sausages. They are coarse cut with a highly seasoned filling. Perfect for outdoor eating and grilling. As an added bonus, I cook the sausages with potatoes lyonnaise (pommes lyonnaise), a classic French potato preparation that is delicious and easy to make at home.
For this recipe, you will need to have a meat grinder of some kind for this recipe or at least know someone who does. The good news is attachments for kitchen aid mixers are inexpensive, about $35. You can buy the exact same grinder I have here. You will also need to buy sausage casings which can be found in some grocery stores and specialty markets or online. If you don’t find any just roll the sausage meat into a sausage shape and cook in a pan.
Country French Sausages
3 pounds pork shoulder
1 pound pork belly
40 grams salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup red wine
2 teaspoons quatre epices (4 spice) - see notes
6 feet sausage casing (buy from Amazon)
Cut the pork shoulder and belly into long narrow strips, about 1 inch in diameter. All they need to do is easily fit into your grinder. Some people like to partially freeze the meat before grinding to make it easier to grind. I find it works just as well as is so I don’t do it. Use the coarse grinding plate attachment and only run the meat through one time.
In a large bowl, mix the pork with salt, pepper, red wine, and 4 spice. Optionally you could add a pinch of saltpetre, or curing salt. I find it unnecessary for these sausages and leave it out. Mix well until the sausage mixture becomes sticky and is well incorporated, about 3 minutes. Sometimes I will fry a tablespoon of the pork mixture to see if it is seasoned properly.
Sausage casings come packed in salt to preserve them. Wash the casing in warm water by first letting it soak for about 30 minutes then running water through the casing itself. Attach the casing tube to your stuffer. Put a little oil on the casing tube and slip the casing over it. Go slow to prevent tearing it. Watch my video recipe if you have any questions.
Turn on your kitchen aid mixer to medium speed and slowly feed the meat into the hopper. Push down with the plunger while holding the sausages that start forming with your other hand. As the casings fill, I like to squeeze them to make sure they are firm, but not too hard because they can pop. Once the casing is full tie each end then twist into 5 - 6 inch links. Use a needle or something pointy and sharp to prick holes in each sausage. Let the sausages sit uncovered in your refrigerator for 1 to 4 days. Sitting allows the flavors to marry together and allows the casing to dry, helping the sausages to hold their shape.
Now your sausages are ready to go. You can grill them, cook in a skillet, or roast them. I like to poach them for 8 to 10 minutes before grilling.
notes:
Quatre epices is a French spice blend used heavily in making sausages, pates, and rillette. It is quite easy to make and has some regional variations. I will give you the baseline recipe and a variation.
Quatre Epices (4 spice)
7 parts ground black pepper
1 part ground nutmeg
1 part ground cloves
1 part ground cinnamon
Mix together and store in a sealed jar.
variations:
Substitute ground ginger for cinnamon.
Substitute 1 part ground allspice for 1 part of black pepper (still use 6 parts of black pepper too)
