Mortadella is an Italian sausage. Italian sausage (mortadella) Bologna sausages from Paul recipe

Acquaintance with the homeland of Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus would be incomplete without tasting Italian sausages, whose names have long become synonymous with exquisite taste and unsurpassed quality. What varieties are worth trying in Italy - this will be discussed in this review.

Mortadella

The homeland of this boiled sausage is Bologna, so in other regions of Italy it is often called Bolognese. Tourists trying it for the first time, mortadella impresses not only with its wonderful delicate taste, but also with its impressive size. The sausage has a cylindrical shape, and one loaf can weigh from 0.5 to 100 kilograms!

Mortadella is made from minced pork with pieces of tender bacon, which is why the pattern on the cut resembles a mosaic. Other types of meat are often added to pork: veal, beef or horse meat. The composition of some varieties of sausage includes cracklings and offal. Garlic, pepper, pistachios, nutmeg, and dried myrtle berries are used as spices.

Sausage is usually cut into very thin slices and eaten with white bread, crackers or dry bread. Panini with mortadella are also popular in Italy.

The best brands in the country are Mortadella di Prato and Mortadella Bologna. The latter can be considered a kind of culinary symbol of Bologna. Mortadella costs from 12 to 30 € per kg. Popular manufacturers are Salumeo, Golfera and Italia Alimentari S.p.A.

Salami

This Italian sausage with mold is best known outside the country. It is made from pork with the addition of bacon, black pepper, white wine and herbs. The delicacy has a rich taste and a special aroma that spices give it. And what is especially important - the real Italian salami has a characteristic marble pattern on the cut and a white "crust" of mold.

One of the best varieties is salami di Felino. It is produced in the city of the same name in the Italian province of Parma. The ripening process of this dry-cured sausage is carried out under a special temperature regime and humidity, as a result of which fermentation occurs and mold occurs. Such conditions allow the use of a minimum amount of salt.

In the city of Felino, the Salami Museum is open, which is located on the territory of a medieval fortress. Tours are conducted by English-speaking guides. Here you can get acquainted with the history of the famous sausage and local production traditions. The cost of the entrance ticket with tasting is 5 €.

Another type of salami is pepperoni, a spicy type of sausage. It is also made from pork and is a popular ingredient for sandwiches. In Italy, salami can be bought at a price of 10-11 € per kilogram.. Notable manufacturers are Negroni Groupe and Salumeo.

Ventrychina

This is a fairly popular sausage in Italy. Her homeland is the region of Abruzzo. Ventricina is made from pork and lard with salt and spices. As spices, fennel, rosemary, pepper (sweet and hot), sometimes garlic and orange zest are used. There are two main types - Vasto and Teramo.

Ventrichina Vasto contains 20-30% fat. All ingredients are not ground into minced meat, but cut into cubes. Then pieces of meat and fat are rolled in spices and filled with them. Sausage ripens within 120 days. The finished product has a piquant, spicy flavor and uneven red color.

The fat content of Ventricina Teramo sausage is much higher - 50-60%. It also includes offal, and all the ingredients are passed through a meat grinder. The delicacy is eaten spread on bread and used to make meat sauces.

Both types of sausage are named after the localities where they are produced. Traditionally, a porcine bladder has been used as a ventricina casing, but modern manufacturers can also use an artificial casing. Ventricina is made by Portalupi, Villani SpA, Alto Concetto and other manufacturers. You can buy sausage in Italy at a price of 18 to 32 € per kg.

Kotekino

The composition of this Italian sausage includes pork neck, parts of the head, meat, lard, pieces of skin and cracklings. All ingredients are finely ground and seasoned with salt, pepper and spices. Sausage goes on sale in a raw, slightly dried form. Demand for it increases on the eve of the New Year, since one of the traditional dishes on the New Year's tables of the inhabitants of Italy is lentil kotekino.

Sausage must be cooked before use. Basically, it is baked or boiled over low heat, after piercing the shell in several places. On the cut, the finished product has a pink, almost red color. You can buy kotekino in Italy at a price of 16 to 30 € per kg. One of the most famous sausage manufacturers is Antica Ardenga Srl.

salsiccia

These fatty sausages are made in many regions of Italy. And in each of the areas, production and recipes have features. In some areas, pork is used as the main ingredient - for this they take the dorsal or femoral part. In other areas, salsiccia can be made with turkey, lamb or beef, as well as with the addition of offal. The shell is used natural or artificial.

The ingredients are not crushed too finely. A mixture of herbs, fennel seeds, salt and pepper (allspice, bitter and paprika) are added to the prepared minced meat. Spices may also vary by region. In some Italian regions, coriander is added to these sausages, in others - garlic, in others - a little fortified wine and even cheese. The sausage has a small diameter and a ring shape.

Salsiccia is also prepared in different ways. Some varieties are dried for two months, like Salsiccia Stagionata (its price is from 16 to 29 € per kg). Others are sold raw, like Salsiccia Fresca (it costs 13–15 €). These sausages can be baked or fried at home. Dried salsiccia is added to stews or used as a pizza topping. Among the manufacturers it is worth noting Salumeo and Casa Montorsi.

Where to taste and buy sausage in Rome

The list of popular types of Italian sausages is not exhaustive. In a sunny country, many varieties are produced, among which there are many raw-smoked, dry-cured and smoked. Local producers honor traditions, so the taste of some products has changed little since the Middle Ages, when they were served on the tables of the Italian nobility.

You can buy the best varieties of sausages in Italy in the Volpetti store in Rome (Via Marmorata, 47). The fantastic assortment of this gastronomic shop is able to amaze the most sophisticated gourmets. Each customer will be helped to make a choice here, and tourists who buy delicious souvenirs before returning home will pack sausages in vacuum packaging.

Another great place in Rome to shop for authentic Italian delicacies is Antica Salumeria (Piazza della Rotonda 4/00186). The shop at this restaurant offers several hundred varieties of sausages, cheeses, cured meats and wines. Here you can buy and taste local products. A large plate with different types of delicacies will cost 15 €.

Description

Bologna sausage is a real homemade delicacy that can be enjoyed non-stop. You need to cook it on the basis of two types of meat: pork and beef. These ingredients are ground into minced meat, from which sausages are subsequently formed. Bologna sausage must contain fresh lard. It makes the product viscous, juicy and more tasty. It is also recommended to add red wine to this delicacy. This alcohol transforms the taste of the sausage, and the wine also makes the meat product much more aromatic. Of course, you can cook this dish without the use of alcohol, but then the sausage treat will not be so original and refined.
In addition to the main ingredients, ground dry mushrooms and nuts such as pistachios are used to make bologna sausage at home. Spices can be added to this original meat product in a variety of ways, ranging from ordinary black pepper to various spices. Not only natural intestines are suitable as a sausage casing. They can be replaced with an artificial collagen shell, ordinary cling film and even a baking sleeve. This does not affect the taste of the meat product in any way, so you can use the bologna casing that suits you best.
If you are already impatient to learn how homemade bologna sausage is prepared with your own hands, then we suggest paying attention to the simple but detailed recipe below with a photo. It is presented in the form of step-by-step instructions, after studying which you will cook the sausage delicacy correctly on the first try!

Ingredients

Bologna sausage - cooking recipe

First of all, rinse the pork and beef well, then dry the meat with napkins and place in one common container. If necessary, remove unnecessary parts from meat ingredients.



Now prepare all the necessary spices and red wine. Add these ingredients to the resulting meat mixture, then mix everything thoroughly and be sure to taste it so that, if necessary, the minced meat can be salted or peppered.


At this point, remove your blender or food processor to grind the dried mushrooms until you get a mushroom powder. When the ingredients are ground, add them to the pork and beef spice mix.


Thoroughly knead the minced meat, and then add the pistachios peeled from the husk and fresh lard cut into small cubes.


Mix the resulting mass again and proceed to the formation of sausages. To do this, prepare the shell by pulling it on a special meat grinder device. It is not necessary to fill the stuffing too tightly, as the sausage may burst during the baking process. You can also fill the shell with a mixture with an ordinary culinary syringe, but this process takes many times more time and effort.


Be sure to tie the edges of the formed bologna sausages with a dense culinary thread, and pierce the delicacy itself with a needle in several places. The last manipulation will also prevent the sausage casing from bursting during baking. Put the meat products on a dry baking sheet, fill everything with water as much as possible and send it to the oven. Sausages should be baked for two to three hours at a temperature of ninety degrees. From time to time, the delicacy needs to be turned over.


When the meat product is ready, put it in a suitable dish for cooling, and after cooling the sausages, place in the refrigerator to cool. The next day, cut the homemade delicacy into circles, put on a plate and serve. Mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise can be used as a sauce for baked meat products. Exquisite bologna sausage made from beef and pork at home is ready.


Mortadella is a boiled Italian sausage with history. Why they love him, where he came from and what to cook with - we figure it out.

The Mortadella sausage variety was traditionally prepared in Bologna, Italy. To do this, pork meat is taken here, mixed with high-quality throat fat, seasoned with salt, white and black, and less often allspice, pepper, anise, often pistachios and always wine. The whipped mousse of ingredients is filled with natural shells and left in a cool place for aging. As a result, a dense sausage with evenly distributed pieces of fat and pistachios, a recognizable spicy taste, is expected.

Story

The ancestor of mortadella is considered to be the Roman sausage farcimen mirtatum. Pork was mixed with its own fat, ground, and myrtle berries were used as a spice. Today, mortadella in Italy has become the ancestor of a whole family of varieties that differ only in the composition of spices and the diameter of sausages. The most common condiments in variations are cognac, garlic, olives.

Mortadella is filled with pork of the best quality, exclusively from well-fed Italian boars.

Stuffed sausages undergo a long heat treatment in a hearth made of stones at a temperature of 75-77C. Such sausage contains practically no preservatives.

Christopher of Messisburg gives the earliest recipe for mordatella. First, he describes the process of cleansing and emptying the pork bladder for a long time, then lists the ingredients of the minced meat, then explains how to stuff it correctly: for every 25 pounds of meat, add 10 ounces of salt and one pepper.” Christopher advises to thoroughly knead the mixture with his fist and add a glass of red wine. After that, a little offal was added to the minced meat.

All Italian manufacturers must indicate the location and region of the manufacturer on the packaging, but we recommend trying the classic from Bologna. Sausage and ham products from Emilia are second to none. Bolognese classic minced pork and ground beef mortadella is noble and intelligent compared to the coarser Modena. Both mortadella include wine, pepper, nutmeg, coriander and garlic. Until now, people in Bologna like to add dry myrtle berries to the composition. A loaf of sausage can weigh from half a kilogram to two centners.

Use

Mortadella does not keep very long. Delicate taste and aroma deteriorate quickly.

It is better to eat a cut piece of sausage in the next 3-4 days. Mortadella goes well with cheeses, walnuts, sour berries, omelettes and sandwiches are often prepared with it. Cut the sausage into thin slices or small cubes. As a snack, it is cut into thin, almost translucent slices and eaten cold - its taste and texture greatly benefit from this. Served with bread and wine.

SANDWICH WITH TOMATOES AND MORTADELLA

  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • large handful of sundried tomatoes
  • 1 large ciabatta
  • lettuce
  • 150 grams of cheese (provolone or to your taste)
  • fresh arugula
  • a few slices of mortadella
  • olive oil

In a small bowl or glass, combine the mustard and 4 tablespoons of olive oil, mix well until smooth. Cut the ciabatta, grease the bread with dressing, put a lettuce leaf, cheese, sausage on the bottom layer, tomatoes and arugula on top, season with salt and pepper. Cover with a second layer of ciabatta and press lightly.

SANDWICH WITH MORTADELLA AND CHEESE (step by step)

To prepare such a delicious breakfast sandwich, remember - we use the most delicious bread, and the best mortadella you can find, and your favorite cheese.

Cut pork and beef into arbitrary pieces. Pass the pork through a meat grinder (with grid holes 2-3 mm), add 1 tbsp. l. salt and all the sugar, mix, put in a bowl, cover tightly with a film and keep for 12 hours or a little longer in the refrigerator at a temperature of 3-4 ° C.

Separately, in the same way, in a meat grinder with 2–3 mm grid holes, chop the beef, add the remaining salt, knead, put in a bowl, cover tightly with foil and keep in the refrigerator for the same time as pork.

Thoroughly mix both types of prepared minced meat and pass through a meat grinder four times, each time a little (about 2 tsp) adding white wine to the minced meat.

Place the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan, heat over low heat and cook, shaking the frying pan, for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Then crush the seeds in a mortar as fine as possible and add it to the minced meat. Mix thoroughly.

Rinse the pistachios with hot water (but not boiling water!) to remove excess salt and dust from them and dry them completely on a paper towel. Add to mince together with freshly ground white pepper.

Grate the nutmeg on the smallest grater and add to the minced meat. Add black peppercorns. Mix thoroughly again.

Wrap the lard in cling film and put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes so that the lard hardens and is easy to cut. With a sharp knife, dipping it in hot water, cut the fat into cubes with a side of 10-12 mm.

Chopped lard quickly, while it is still cold, add to the minced meat and mix gently. This time, you do not need to thoroughly knead the minced meat - it is enough that the pieces of fat are distributed more or less evenly.

Fold the cling film 4 times. You should get a rectangle measuring 30x40 cm. Put the stuffing on the film in the form of a “loaf” so that its short sides do not reach the edge of the film by at least 5 cm, along the long edge closest to you - by 5 cm, along the far one - by 15 -20 cm.

Today, mortadella can be found in almost any major supermarket, anywhere in the world.

Even many sausage manufacturers in the CIS countries are trying to unravel its recipe and produce, to put it mildly, a parody of mortadella, the same can be said about other typical Italian products. But any Italian will say without hesitation that the best mortadella produced in her home region.

The production of mortadella is carried out according to a strictly established recipe. To do this, use chilled or frozen meat, which is thoroughly crushed before being mixed with other ingredients. Then pieces of high-quality lard are added to minced meat(chopped to about 1 cubic centimeter) and a mixture of spices (salt, white pepper, coriander, anise, pistachios and wine).

After that, the resulting mixture is packaged. Shells for mortadella can be both natural and artificial. It doesn't really affect the quality.

After packaging, mortadella is processed using special heaters at a temperature of 75 °С. Cooking time depends on the size (diameter) of the sausage, and can last from one to several hours. Mortadella is considered ready when the temperature of its core reaches 70 °С. And only after that, the sausage is quickly cooled.

Sausage mortadella (mortadella) can be perfect different sizes, usually from 500 grams to 100 kilograms.

Ideally, real mortadella should not contain various fillers, flavors, artificial colors, and preservatives.

But some manufacturers add sodium caseinate to the product, of low or medium quality, to improve the taste.

How to eat mortadella

If you have already been to Italy, then most likely you know that almost everything is cut very thinly on a special machine. Mortadella refers to such sausages, which can be said - the thinner the tastier. Although it can be served in any form - cut with an ordinary knife, cubes, etc.

Because it perishable product, Italians prefer to buy it a little, well, let's say that it is enough only for a sandwich or for preparing a dish (at one time). In my practice (when I worked in an Italian shop), one lady asked me to cut only 30 grams. In Italy, this is normal.

Mortadella is used to prepare many dishes, but in my opinion the most common is the usual fresh bun (panino) inside which lay a few pieces of sausage. Favorite food for people who do not have the opportunity to dine at home.

The average cost of a good quality mortadella (in specialized stores - "salumeria") is 12 €. In supermarkets you can find cheaper, but worse quality.