Home-made Sausages with Fennel Salsiccie Fatte a Mano con Finocchio

Italian sausages are in a league of their own. I a m thinking of those from Norcia, the town in Umbria famous for its pork and wild boar products, and the wonderful fresh pork lucanica sausages. Here I am making my own sausages from pork meat, and flavouring them with fennel seeds – a traditional combination in the finnochio salame of Tuscany. You can, however, make the sausages with any other meat – wild boar, lamb, beef, veal, chicken or turkey – and you can spice them as you please – any other seeds, or something like fresh sage would be good.

Serve the sausages with polenta, or mashed potatoes. They could be served with pasta as well. A sauce made from peppers, or tomatoes or indeed a salsa verde would be a good accompaniment.

Put the pork, chilli, garlic, fennel seeds and wine into a bowl, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well together, then, using your hands, divide into twelve pieces. Roll each piece into a large sausage shape.

Heat 4 – 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, and fry the sausages over a medium heat until they are golden on all sides. This will take about 10 minutes.