Turkey sausage gets a bad rap- some people find it is dry and flavorless- but I think that properly made, it’s tasty, even without the addition of pork fat. It has a lighter flavor and is much leaner than most sausages, but has that familiar sausage texture and flavor.
The key to making good turkey sausage is not just to treat it as a substitute for pork or venison- it’s got its own thing going on. Treating poultry sausages as a separate category, and brining the meat before grinding it, is the key to a juicy, flavorful turkey sausage. The brine ups the moisture content, which will help keep the sausage moist while it cooks. It also adds a subtle base flavor that works well with the Italian herbs.
You can use any brine you want, but keep the flavors mild. I use this wet brine recipe.
You can make this sausage with either white or dark meat, or a mixture of both. The dark meat of the legs has more depth of flavor, and looks and tastes more like traditional sausage. If using white meat, the sausage will have a much lighter taste and texture. I used mostly dried herbs because there’s not much for fresh herbs in our garden in the winter, but if you have fresh herbs to work with, it’ll make this recipe even better.
You can case the sausage if you want- we didn’t, because we were making the sausage for a friend who has alpha gal, the dreaded “red meat allergy” that is caused by a tick bite, and the pork casings would have meant he couldn’t eat it. So we kept this sausage loose, for pasta sauces, meatballs, and lasagna. Even without the addition of pork fat, the meatballs we made out of the sausage were perfect- not dry, not crumbly, but flavorful and succulent.
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