Merguez Sausage Recipe
Merguez Sausage
Think of a spiced lamb burger with a mint yogurt sauce and tomato chutney…
The best burger I have ever had was from a cute little place called Tabor Tavern in Portland Oregon. 1/3 lb. lamb patty, harissa, balsamic onions, feta, arugula, all on a brioche bun. I just checked the menu, and they are still serving it. I have never been quite able to reproduce that flavor, but it opened my mind to how well-spiced lamb is suited to be used in a burger. This flexible sausage recipe can be pumped into links, flattened into patties, or rolled into meatballs.
Ingredients
3 pounds lamb | ground *or see note below
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
1 whole star anise
3 allspice berries
a small piece of a cinnamon stick | 1/8 teaspoon worth
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1-2 tablespoons ground cayenne | adjusting to your taste
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Step 1
Heat a dry skillet on the stove, add your whole spices: cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorn, fennel seeds, star anise, allspice berries, and the small piece of cinnamon stick. Toast the spices, constantly stirring them, make sure they do not burn. Keep toasting until they are fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
Step 2
Using a spice grinder, or mortar and pestle, grind your spices down to a fine powder. Mix in the rest of your spices; paprika, cayenne.
Step 3
Mix together your spices, lemon zest, olive oil, salt, and lamb in a bowl until well incorporated.
A note about the lamb
Actually, I prefer rough mincing cuts of lamb up myself over using pre-ground lamb for burgers or meatballs. Some of the cuts I tend to use are lamb shoulder cuts, broiling cuts, roast cuts, stew meat, or a combination of whatever I have. I’ll pull out my heavy cleaver and keep whacking until I have a nice slightly rough grind constancy. This also allows me to control the amount of fat that gets used in the grind. If the meat seems too fatty, then I can carve some of the fat off the cuts in the beginning. If there is not enough fat on the meat, then I can add a little bit of bacon to the meat (delicious). I usually aim for a 80/20 ratio of meat to fat. But the great thing about doing this yourself is you can adjust it however you like.