Chicken Sausage w/ Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic, Feta, Arugula

[big_onion]

We just had a BBQ on Sunday for my ladyfriend's birthday, and I made up a batch of chicken sausage for her that had her jumping up and down it tasted so good. This is as best as I can remember -- I might be a little off, but there's always that "adjustment" period.

For the red peppers, I cut them and roasted them on the grill, tossed them in a plastic bag to steam then removed the skins. I put them in some olive oil with some sea salt, oregano, thyme and garlic powder and marinated them for a couple of hours that way.

3 lbs chicken thigh meat, no skin
2 red peppers, roasted, marinated, diced
2 big handfuls of arugula, stems removed, roughly chopped
1.5 cups of feta cheese in larger chunks
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (I like it spicy)

Cut meat into strips, freeze, grind, mix all spices and arugula in and stuff into hog casings.

The arugula will look like a ridiculous amount, but it'll be fine. I promise.

I may have added in a little bit of thyme or oregano, but I was making three different kinds of sausage and it was in the wee hours of the morning. I know I used more salt (3 tablespoons) but I thought that was too much when combined with the saltiness of the cheese. Two should be enough, unless you like it a little saltier.

I find that when dealing with chicken, more than with pork, I need to really freeze the meat solid and grind it, otherwise it gets too sticky to handle. Does anyone else do this?

My girlfriend said it tasted like pizza, probably because of the cheese, garlic, and roasted red peppers. I think she may have taken some photos so I'll try and get them up. It was extremely colorful, with bits of red, green and white throughout.

[wheels]

Thanks for posting the recipe, it's great to have something a bit different.

Phil

[DanMcG]

Not sure how I missed this recipe, I'm looking forward to trying it! Thanks

[covlocks]

Freezing the thigh meat before grinding is OK as long as you intend to cook/eat all of the sausages without refreezing them.

A little rusk may have helped retain some of the fat and kept them very moist.

What is arugula?

[wheels]

What is arugula?

We call it rocket in the UK.

Phil

[dba1954]

think you would be better off freezing and then grinding, stuffing and refreezing then not initially freezing (or maybe poach before freezing again?).... it's not the freezing a second time that's an issue, it's how they are defrosted and how much time the spend out of the fridge....just my thoughts. Please tell me if i'm off ...