Antelope Longaniza Sausage

I am putting this sausage in the Venison category because I think it fits best here, but I initially made this Spanish-style sausage with goat meat. Naturally, the closest analog to goat in the wild game world is antelope, but I would happily make this paprika-heavy fresh sausage with venison or even wild boar or pork.

These links are dominated by the flavors of paprika and rosemary, with a little undercurrent of allspice and onion. You could use shallots in place of the green onion, and if you wanted to you could add a little garlic — but not too much, as these are not supposed to be garlicky sausages.

And resist the urge to use hot paprika: Longaniza are not hot sausages. What separates these sausages from other kinds are paprika, allspice (or cinnamon and anise), and vinegar. Those are “musts.”

Makes 5 pounds of sausages

• 3 1/2 pounds antelope or venison
• 1 1/2 pounds pork shoulder
• 35 grams kosher salt
• 3 minced green onions
• 25 grams chopped fresh rosemary
• 12 grams cracked black pepper
• 4 grams ground allspice
• 40 grams sweet paprika
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3/4 cup red wine
• Hog casings (ask at a local butcher shop)

Start by reading my basic sausage-making instructions, which are hosted on my friend Elise’s site Simply Recipes.

1. Chill the meat until it is almost frozen by putting it in the freezer for an hour or so.
2. Take out some hog casings and set in a bowl of very warm water.
3. Chop meat (and pork fat, if using) into 1 inch chunks.
4. Take out half the black pepper. Why? You’ll want to add them right before you do that final mix. This keeps the spices larger, altering the sausage’s texture, making eating it more interesting.
5. Combine the salt, the rest of the pepper, herbs, spices and green onions with the meat, mix well with your hands and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
6. Grind through your meat grinder (you can use a food processor in a pinch, but you will not get a fine texture) using the coarse die. If your room is warmer than 69 degrees, set the bowl for the ground meat into another bowl of ice to keep it cold.
7. Put the mixture back in the freezer for another 30 minutes and then grind again with the fine die on the meat grinder. This will give you a more refined texture and will minimize any gristly bits.
8. Add the rest of the black pepper, the wine and vinegar, then mix thoroughly either using a Kitchenaid on low for 60-90 seconds or with your (very clean) hands. This is important to get the sausage to bind properly. Once it is mixed well, put it back in the fridge.
9. Stuff the sausage into the casings. Twist off links by pinching the sausage down and twisting it, first in one direction, and then with the next link, the other direction. Or you could tie them off with butcher’s string.
10. Hang the sausages in a cool place for up to 4 hours (the colder it is, the longer you can hang them). If it is warm out, hang for one hour. Once they have dried a bit, put in the fridge until needed. They will keep for at least a week in the fridge.
11. If you are freezing the sausages, wait a day before doing so. This will tighten up the sausages and help them keep their shape in the deep-freeze.