Lamb Sausage

LAMB FEST 2021 was a delicious day for lamb lovers and connoisseurs of good flavor. Seven of our nine teams shared their recipes for TABLE readers to try at home.

The chef teams who competed for the top prize at TABLE Magazine’s Lamb Fest 2021 brought their experience, their imagination, and their talents to SouthSide Works last October. The results…nine fantastic variations on deliciousness. Each entry was unique in its flavor profile, in its textures, and in its presentation. It was a tough choice, but the many hundreds of attendees voted their taste buds. Guest Judge Hal B. Klein supervised the count and announced the verdict. And the rest is lamb history.

Team “Sheared” Excellence

The sweetness of life “up on the mountain” at Nemacolin inspired the team to create the best hot dog ever for Lamb Fest 2021. They devised a classic flavor profile featuring lamb, of course, with garlic, rosemary, and red wine. The results, a “complete eat” of fatty sausage on a toasted slider bun with crispy, sweet, and acidic cucumber and onion, topped with smoked harissa aioli. As a bonus for all the folks who admired these dogs (many of them two and three times), the team also sizzled up a batch of lamb-shaped lamb-fat donuts. Simply divine!

Lamb Sausage

2 ¼ lb fatty lamb shoulder
½ lb lamb fat or pork fat
1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ cup red wine, chilled

1. Cut the lamb shoulder and fat into small pieces that will easily fit into your grinder, removing any sinew from the meat as you go.

2. In a large bowl combine the meat and fat with the rosemary, salt, garlic, and pepper. Stir to mix. Cover and refrigerate 4-6 hours or overnight.

3. Before grinding, place the bowl from your stand mixer and meat grinder in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

4. Remove the meat mixture, bowl, meat grinder, and wine from the refrigerator. Using the finest grind on your grinder, grind the meat mixture into the chilled bowl.

5. Alternate pushing the pieces of fat and meat through the grinder to ensure that the fat doesn't stick inside.

6. Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, mix the ground meat on low speed, adding the cold red wine. The mixture will come together in about 2 minutes and be sticky.

7. Take about 1 tablespoon and form a small patty. Fry it in a skillet. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt if desired. If you plan on stuffing the sausage into casings, refrigerate it for 2 hours.

8. Otherwise, you can simply shape and wrap the sausages in plastic wrap for later use. If you're stuffing the sausages, proceed to the next step.

9. While the sausage meat is chilling, soak the casings in warm water for 1 hour.

10. Rinse the casings in cold water, then run water through them, by slipping one end of the casing over the tap and gently turn on the water to let it flow through the casing.

11. Place the casings in a fine-mesh sieve to drain. You want them to be moist when you fill them.

12. Attach the sausage stuffer to the grinder, and push the damp sausage casing over the tube until about 4 inches is hanging from the end, and tie a knot in this piece. (If it's your first time at making sausage, ask a friend to help you with this step.)

13. Add the chilled mixture to the grinder on low speed, and slowly stuff the sausage casings, trying to minimize the air pockets in the casings. As the sausage enters the casing, it should slowly slide off the tube.

14. Once all the mixture is used up, ease any remaining casing off the tube.

15. Roll the sausage on a damp surface to distribute the filling as evenly as possible, then form the sausage into links by twisting the casings at 6-inch intervals.

16. Twist each link in the opposite direction to prevent them from unwinding.

17. Cover the sausages and refrigerate for up to 3 days. We served our sausage sous vide at 145 degrees for 1 hour and then griddled to create a moist interior and crispy outside.

Story by Keith Recker/ Photography by Laura Petrilla/ Styling by Ana Kelly