I have been fancying for a while having a go at making sausages, and this week, I did just that.
I was in Sainsburys and thought I’d get some pork to make some. I picked up a shoulder joint that had been reduced and looked at the back of the pack and it said that there were nitrates in it! In a joint! I had no idea that joints could contain additives like that. I knew that meat can be full of water, and a protein of some kind to make the water stay in.
So rejecting the joint, I picked up a pack of pork mince and after carefully reading the pack, popped it in my basket. It could still have additives of course, being minced meat, they may not need to declare them.
Once you are happy with your mix, shape it into whatever you want it to be. In the absence of sausage skins, I used a burger press that I have had for ever, to make patties that I could separate with the waxed discs that come with the press. I could have added those chive flowers too couldn’t I.
You can make thicker or thinner patties, tiny little ones for littlies. Or walnut sized pieces to use as meatballs or with pasta. The first one I had, I ate it in a burger bun with coleslaw on the side. And very nice it was too.
What were the home made sausages like
Just like a good quality bought sausage! I was very pleased with these. They were super easy to make and I know exactly what’s in them
Variations for your home made sausages
Curry spices would be lovely. I don’t like it myself, but I know that many people like apple in their bangers. If you need to make gluten free ones, this would make it very easy, just use a gluten free filler. That filler could be oats, or some dry sage and onion stuffing, as well as any kind of bread. I just used some of the breadcrumbs from the freezer.
Black pudding mixed in would be fab. Some of the freeze dried veg powders I have would work well here too. I used some of the onion powder mixed into butter to spread on some tomato scones yesterday. They were really good. The onion powder, tomato powder or kale powder would all add interesting flavours to a sausage pattie. In the absence of freeze dried powder, you could use chopped sun dried tomatoes, grated carrots, fine chopped onion, a good dollop of Brinjal pickle, or Branston. Have a look in the store cupboard and see what you have.
You may or may not remember that there is a lot of bowel cancer in my family. Most of my Dads brothers and sisters, and we think his Dad too died from it. The recent advice from dietary experts says that most people should minimise consumption of processed meats because, amongst other things, of the nitrates contained in them.
This means that sausages, chorizo and bacon are pretty much off the menu for me. This is partly why I wanted to have a go at making sausages at home. I do like to know what’s in what I eat.
Next time I’ll go to my local butcher, and get some higher welfare meat to make these
Ingredients
- 750 g pork mince 750g, £2.20
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 100 g breadcrumbs from a value loaf, about 6p (I used breadcrumbs from a baquette)
- 4 tsps fresh sage leaves from the garden optional
- tsp thyme from the garden optional
- 20 g chives from the garden fine chopped, optional
- 2½ tsps hot smoked paprika
- ½ tsps ground ginger
- 2 tsps mild french mustard
Instructions
- Fine chop any fresh herbs and pile everything into a bowl and squish it all well together.
- Take a small amount of mix and fry it. Taste it to test for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
- The sausage meat was spicy enough for me with that amount of pepper and paprika. Adjust to whatever you like
- Once you are happy with your mix, shape it into whatever you want it to be. Shape into patties, or whatever, and fry gently until browned and cooked through
- Makes a total of 850g of sausage meat
Notes
Got a great recipe? How about submitting it to appear on Thrifty Lesley!
Love getting ideas to try & eat on a budget so have been really enjoying your blog! These looks delicious, I’ll have to give them a go.
I sure know that feeling. No matter what I do, my system adjusts to it. Every time I think I’ve found something, or the level of calories, I get a little movement, get hopeful. Then nothing
My dad and both his sisters died from bowel cancer so I’m very careful about processed meat products but I will have a go at these patties. Good luck with your weight loss – I’ve got stuck so I will have to try something more even extra exercise doesn’t seem to help.
Thanks for the support Anna
Food from a long way from wherever you happen to be is exotic I think. To me, American food is exotic
I’ve just been looking at recipes for overnight oats on Pinterest, think I’ll be able to incorporate some into a meal plan
Leslie, I am from the States and happened upon your site a while back. I have always thought British cooking was exotic and have made a lot of your recipes. I love reading about your experiments. I really appreciate what you do, helping people keep their food budget down. And the food is delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your ideas.
They were! Very like sausages form the butcher, with none of the additives ( as far as I know, can’t be 100% sure of the mince)
WOW, those sausage patties look terrific! 😀