Traditional Cudighi Recipe
Inspired by Italian Cotechino, the traditional Cudighi recipe from Upper Michigan features a pork sausage seasoned with wine, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves. The Cudighi sandwich is completed by serving the homemade sausage in a roll with marinara sauce, onions, and melted cheese!
Ingredients
For the sausage stuffing (optional)
- 1 meter beef casings for 2 lbs ground pork making 6-8 patties.
For the ground pork mix
- 9 1/2 oz pork shoulder spalla di maiale
- 9 1/2 oz pork neck capocollo
- 9 1/2 oz pork butt fondello
- 3 oz pancetta
For the spice blend
- ½ cup dry wine red or white
- 1 tbsp salt fine *less is needed if you want to consume fresh sausage, while you need slightly more if you intend to season it(
- 1 tbsp black pepper ground
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ tsp nutmeg ground
- ¼ tsp cinnamon ground
- 1 cloves toasted
For 8 sandwiches
- 8 breadrolls
- 16 slices mozzarellacheese
- 8 sweet peppers
- 2 onions
- 8 garlic cloves
- 1 cup Marinara sauce homemade or store-bought
- 8 pickles
Instructions
Cudighi Sausage
- Cut the pork into coarse cubes just the right size to fit into the mincer. Spread everything out on a work surface, mixing the lean parts with the fat ones.
- Combine all the spices to a bowl.
- Spread the spices on the ground pork , mixing well, so that the ingredients blend well with each other.
- At this point, grind everything with the meat grinder choosing by how much you want the dough to be chopped more or less coarsely.
- If you want a very fine minced mixture you can brush the meat twice, otherwise just once, it depends on personal tastes. You can also leave a part of the bacon to be ground separately, which is coarser.
- Now add any other ingredients , such as wine or pepper or juniper grains, which could not be passed through the meat grinder. Mix well with your hands, or in a planetary mixer , to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
- The sausage is ready
To Cook Cudighi Sausage in a Skillet:
- Heat a skillet over medium to high heat until hot.
- Place the sausage patties in the skillet, cooking them for 5-8 minutes on each side until browned and charred.
- Ensure the patties are cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 160°F (70°C).
To Cook Cudighi Sausage in the Oven:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Arrange the sausages on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally, until the sausages reach an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C).
Cudighi Sandwich
- Heat the marinara sauce and slice the sweet pickles, onions, garlic or any toppings you like for your sandwich.
- Put the mozzarella cheese on top of the Culighi sausage and put it back on the grill to melt the cheese.
- Pour the marinara sauce covering the meat patty and top with the pickles, onion and garlic.