the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Merguez Sausage

Marooned at home during these days of social distancing found us searching for a bit of a different spin on the traditional Easter dinner last weekend.

Our adult daughter Jess is spending some time with us, seeking some sunshine and a taste of spring after the long, cold, and dark Montana winter. She’s a photojournalist working in the outdoor space, and after recent journeys “BC”, which translates these days around our camp to before-COVID, she’s come to really enjoy Middle Eastern flavors.

After kicking around several options, we decided to make up a batch of Spicy Merguez Sausage, using a combination of lamb and pork belly; the pork belly was chosen in part as our favorite local butcher didn’t have pork fat on hand, but some very very nice belly.

We played around with several different batches of spices, and finally settled on this fairly traditional array including fennel seed, coriander seed, and cumin seed, enriched with paprika, garlic, a nice harissa, and a hint of fresh cilantro.

As you home-crafted sausage fans know well, freezing your meats pre-grind until they’re firm (20-30 minutes) makes them handle much better, and pre-toasting spices before grinding and mixing brings all sorts of additional, deeper, and richer flavor notes.

The truly ambitious can certainly whip up a batch of their favorite harissa as well, though we used a trusted commercially prepared brand and were quite happy.

3 pounds lamb shoulder or leg, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 pound skinless pork belly, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

2 tsp whole fennel seed
2 tsp whole coriander seed
2 tsp whole cumin seed
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp good paprika
1 tsp cayenne

6-7 garlic cloves, trimmed and minced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/3 cup harissa (perhaps more)
1/3 cup ice water

Prep the two meats then spread in a single layer on a lined baking sheet; throw in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. (See note above.)

Meanwhile, toast the fennel, coriander, and cumin seed in a cast iron skillet over medium heat (preheat the skillet) until fragrant; remove to a pestle or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Place in a small bowl and combine with the salt, paprika, and cayenne.

When ready to grind, scrape the chilled meats into a bowl, sprinkle with half the spice mixture, half the garlic, and half the harissa then toss to combine. Now grind the meats into a bowl set in ice through your small die.

Scrape the meat into the bowl of your stand mixer, add the remainders of the spice mixture, garlic, cilantro, and harissa, add the water, and mix on low speed until the mixture has combined and is uniform (and a little sticky).

While the rest of the sausage chills in the fridge, test cook a small patty and then adjust seasonings (pending how hot the harissa might be, we almost always add more).

Shape into patties (or links) or stuff into prepared casings.

Of course these need to stay in the fridge (or freezer) until cooked, and smell heavenly while sautéing until well-browned and cooked through.

Enjoy.