Gluten-free, Egg-free Pork Sausages

2010 May 6

Gluten Free Egg Free Sausage Recipe

(or Nonna’s Salsicce).

When I was little, my nonna made the BEST small sausages by hand, without the casings. They were so simple- ground pork, handful of breadcrumbs, an egg, salt, and lots and lots of pepper. She’d caramelize them in the pan and then deglaze the whole batch with strong home made white wine. yum. Don’t even get me started on her pizza bianca or her gnocchi. *sigh* glutenfilleddreams.

OK, so, I’m pretty sure I’ve come up with a decent gluten-free, egg-free alternative. Amaranth flour, instead of bread crumbs, is actually quite sticky by nature. Works well. And ground flax seed (believe it or not), works pretty well as a binding agent. Throw in a little almond meal for structure, and voila! It works!!

MyRealFoodLife.com

Gluten-free, Egg-free Pork Sausages

Note: Turn up the heat so that pan is super hot before adding the sausages. Don’t turn the sausages over until they are fully brown on one side. Flip only once. Turn down heat to medium when they are brown on both sides. Use metal tongs to scrape under them to pick them up (or use a teflon pan). They are delicate- don’t crowd the pan, and be patient when flipping them over.

Ideas: for flavourings, add in finely chopped fresh parsley, or dried oregano, or some ground chili pepper, or smoked paprika, or sauteed minced garlic, or sauteed onions or fennel seeds … could be great additions. :)

Ingredients

1 1/2 to 2 pounds ground pork
2 tablespoons gound flax
1/3 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup finely ground almond meal
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
3 tbsp olive oil (or more, for pan frying)

Directions

1- Mix all the ingredients into the pork with your hands. To do this right, you really have to squeeze the mixture through your fingers until everything is fully incorporated. It should hold together and be sticky.

2- Shape meat mixture into fat mini ‘sausages’, more like slightly elongated meatballs. Roll them in your hands and make sure they hold their shape as much as possible.

3-Add olive oil to large pan, put on medium-high heat. Wait until the pan is very hot before adding the sausages. See the note above about cooking them! They can be temperamental. (but so worth it!!).

These freeze and reheat really well, I’ve been eating them all week at lunch. yum. :)

Note: For a special twist, after the sausages are cooked, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup white wine and let the sausages simmer in it . SO DELICIOUS!

Serve it with a salad– there’s plenty to choose from here!