Sausage for Sauce

In addition to the meatballs, Italian sausage also flavors my mom’s sauce. If possible, use Mama Alfieri’s recipe for mild Italian sausage; otherwise, try to find the leanest hot Italian sausage you can. (My experience has been that store-bought hot Italian sausage tends not to be very hot.) As with the meatballs, you will brown--but not fully cook--the sausage links to seal in their juices.

Full disclosure: I do not like most store-bought sausage. In the past, when I wasn’t making my own, I would sometimes skip this step and just use the meatballs in the sauce. It was still good, but not nearly as good as when I include Mama Alfieri’s sausage.

8 links of Mama Alfieri’s Mild Italian Sausage (or store-bought hot Italian sausage)

1-2 Tbsp of Crisco vegetable oil, optional, if sausage is lean (e.g., Mama Alfieri’s)

1. Over medium heat, brown sausage links in one or two covered frying pans, with a little water added for steam. If the sausage is lean, you might want to add oil.

2. Turn links to brown all sides and to prevent sticking. If you think the links are browning too fast, add a little water to slow things down and to keep the meat moist. Remember that you are not fully cooking the sausages now; they will finish cooking in the sauce.

3. Remove the browned links from the pan, placing them on three layers of paper towel to dry. Cover them with another layer of paper towel, and set them aside until you’re ready to add them to the sauce.