Merguez
Ingredents:
- 1.3 kg/3 lb lamb from a leg or forequarter
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2-3 teaspoons harissa
- 2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 225 ml/8 fl oz iced water
- thin sausage casings
Preparation:
- Trim any fine skin from the lamb, but leave a good proportion of fat. Cut into 2.5 cm/1 in cubes; check the weight. If the lamb is not very cold, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
- Place the lamb in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt and mix well. Process in six batches in a food processor with a steel blade until finely minced. Transfer to a wide dish. Mix in the pepper, harissa to taste, spices and chopped garlic. Process again in six batches to mix the flavourings evenly into the meat, adding 2-3 tablespoons of iced water to each batch. Transfer to a large bowl and mix well by hand.
- If the sausage casings are fresh, finse off the salt and soak in warm water for 30 minutes. Run cold water through each length of casing to check for holes. Fit about 1 m/3 ft of fresh casing onto the nozzle of a sausage filler or large funnel. If using dry casings, cut off a 7.5 cm/3 in length.
- Pass the lamb mixture through a sausage filler or push through a funnel with the end of a wooden spoon. When the mixture appears at the end of the nozzle, stop and pull the casing over the end and tie, then continue with filling. Let the sausage curl into the dish. When the casing is filled, leave the open and untied, and fill more casings as necessary.
- Stretch the sausage along the work surface and press the half-way point with a finger. Twist at this point three times. Even out the filling between the twist and the tied end, mark the half-way point and twist again. Continue to twist until the required lengths are formed. Tie off the end.
- Use the sausages within 2 days, or store well wrapped in the freezer.
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