And usually salt, we can do about half a teaspoon to about two pounds. So, we’re going to go with probably close to about a tablespoon which I just kind of measured out, and I'll just kind of throw it on there, there we go. Maybe just a little bit extra, that’s good.
We've got our garlic. I want to go with some basil. The basil, about a eighth of a teaspoon to two pounds, probably what I am going to do; a lot of times like I said I take and whenever I do this, I just kind of estimate. Basil is what makes it sweet. As a matter of fact, I think I am going to put just a touch more in. That’s what gives it its sweet flavor that’s why we have sweet Italian sausage and hot Italian sausage. Both of them have the same thing.
Now, oregano, oregano, use your nose. It’s very strong. It’s stronger than the basil, so we’re not going to use a whole lot. As I said, we’re going to provide the recipe, so you'll be able to actually measure the stuff out. I just kind of go by feel and by past experience. But we don’t want to go overboard with the oregano. Paprika, red pepper, and cayenne, these are going to stay for the hot sausage right now. So we’re going to keep those back, but we’re going to go ahead and we’re going to take some cracked rosemary.
Now, I have rosemary leaves, and as you can see, I’m looking at probably about the same amount as the oregano, not a whole lot. I am probably going to go about half a tablespoon, probably about actually close to about a teaspoon, teaspoon and a half, is what I am using here. You want to crack this, it’s not cracked, but to crack it, all that you have do is just kind of go like this and actually do it over the top, so if it jumps out. It’s hard to take this with a knife and actually put it on a cutting board. When you do this, it just wants to jump around, and if you try to cut it with a knife, it’s going to fly all over the place. So the best thing is, just put it in your hand, grind it up with your fingers, and now, you've got cracked rosemary, kind of grind it up; there you go, there’s your rosemary.
Okay, good deal. Red pepper; now, even with the sweet Italian, we’re going to use a little bit of red pepper in it, just a tiny bit. Not too much, because if we go too far, we've got hot sausage. So I am going to take probably again, like about a teaspoon and a half and we’re just going to sprinkle that in and that’s it. Just a little bit for flavor.
Now, fennel seed, fennel seed is one of the main ingredients that we’re going to use in Italian sausage. This is your fennel seed. It’s a very aromatic seed and what we’re going to do is depending on the taste. If you like the taste of fennel put more in. If you don’t, don’t put any in. If you want a little bit, put a little bit in. Me, I like fennel with mine, so, I am going to put quite a bit in, and actually that’s going to make a nice mix right there. So, we’re going to put quite a bit of fennel in there.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services