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Nothing screams summer like this Italian Ring Sausage. Chevalatta is an Italian sausage made with sheep casing. It is a cheesy and delicious sausage, that you can make yourself, or buy at the butcher!.

I remember that every Memorial Day weekend, my dad would get us an Italian sausage ring as a snack before dinner. Wed all slowly cut away at, an inch or 2 at a time until it was all gone. They were so so good, and readily available in my hometown.

But now I live in North Carolina, where country breakfast sausage is much more common than Italian ring sausage. Chevalatta was always a special sausage we had in the summer. Every once in a while, my dad would get it from the butcher for a family event or party. [feast_advanced_jump_to].

Chevalatta is an Italian spiral sausage filled with parmesan cheese, garlic, salt, basil, and parsley. Its made with sheep casings making it have less of a snap and more of a soft bite. It’s soft and creamy, and it goes great with broccoli rabe! You can grill this dish as an appetizer or as a side dish.

This blog isnt about “how to grill chevalatta. ” This blog is to teach you how to make and stuff your own sausages. Italian ring sausage needs the right amount of meat to fat, the right amount of salt, and the right spices. Of course, I will also go into detail on how to grill after we finish stuffing the sausage.

If youre looking to get the New York summer sausage flavor, this is the blog for you. Follow along as we go through some of the steps.

Any butcher will tell you that this is the most important part. I learn so much about meat every time I go to the butcher. If you don’t know, just ask! I used to buy a Boston butt and some pork fat from the butcher and cut it all up myself. This time, I talked to the butcher, and he said he’d do it for me. I’d save money because I wouldn’t have to pay for the bone.

It is important to have between 70 and 80% lean meat and 30 to 40 percent fat when you are choosing pork to make chevalatta. Real butchers will tell you not to go below 25% fat. I sometimes like to do 80%/20% just because its a little less fat, and a little healthier. When it comes to sausage, I think you should always ask for more fat because it’s hard to weigh the fat and pork separately. It’s also better to err on the side of fattier.

You also want to use hard fat when it comes to sausage. It is about the same texture as the meat if not harder. Soft fat feels a bit jelly and wet. You always want more hard fat because it will go through the grinder a lot easier. I go into more detail about this in my how-to-make homemade Italian sausage blog.

Once you have your pork, its time to head home and get to grinding your meat.

I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer for grinding. It works great as a grinder and for stuffing sausages, and the KitchenAid mixer is real heavy-duty. Weve had ours forever.

Chop your pork into 1-2 inch square pieces. The pork should be smaller than the hole you have to stuff it into in the grinder. Place the pork on a metal tray in the freezer along with grinder attachment pieces for 15 minutes. Cooling the pork down will help keep the best texture during the grinding phase. If the pork gets too warm, the fat will start to melt and get really stringy. It will stop up the grinder, and youll have to clean it all out.

Once the grinder is attached, use the smaller of the two attachments for Italian ring sausage to grind the pork. I use a speed of 6-8 when grinding the meat. If you are making a traditional sausage, you can use the larger grinding attachment. Grind all of the pork into a large mixing bowl.

One of the other more important aspects of sausage is salt content. The right salt content will make the sausage snappy and juicy. You always want to have 1-2% of the total weight of the meat in salt. The other seasonings are just for flavor. The salt makes the sausage.

After the meat is ground, add the salt, cheese, parsley, basil, garlic, and olive oil. Combine until incorporated by hand. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge overnight.

Take the sheep casings out of the fridge and wash them well in warm water before taking the meat out. Make sure you do this in a bowl. The entire casing will go right down your drain otherwise and that is absolutely disgusting. Rinse them inside and out, by running water through them. Allow them to soak for 30-60 minutes in a bowl of warm water.

Set up your sausage stuffing attachment with the smaller of the two attachments. Remove the casing from the water, and run a little olive oil over them and the stuffing attachment. Slowly thread the casing onto the stuffer. When you get to the end, dont tie the knot just yet. When you’re ready, turn the machine on low speed and start adding the meat. Keep going until the sausage stuffer is full. Then tie the knot in the casing. This will make it so less air gets into the casing.

Start stuffing the casing at a speed of 6-8. Start slow until you get the hang of it. Try to keep consistently pressing meat through the machine. Shape the ring as you go. It will be easier than doing it at the end because you could risk tearing it.

Once the sausage is stuffed, tie another knot. Wrap the sausage in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.

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Grilling Italian Sausage Ring

Place your grill on high heat. Allow the grill to heat up to between 500-600℉. Place the sausage on the grill and lower the heat to medium. Grill on each side for about 4 minutes or until the temperature reaches 160℉. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then serve.

What to Serve Chevalatta with

Hey, don’t worry—you eat it all at once! Okay, I joke. You can microwave it, fry it up, or put it on pasta.

Chevalatta! I hope after reading this blog thats obvious. Spiral sausage, ring sausage, sausage ring. Its all chevalatta

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FAQ

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