Fresh. Spicy. Italian.

This week's newbie in the meat case is a fresh Italian sausage. It's an all pork sausage, seasoned with red pepper, fennel seeds, chili flakes, black pepper + Cochon hot sauce - a sweet, yet spicy link that really doesn't need much company to shine. Salumiere Kris served a taste of it today 'as is', just rubbed with olive oil + stuck in the oven until nicely browned. Cut up in pieces, served with some whole grain mustard, it will make for a great, straight forward appetizer.
Kris also suggests to use the fresh Italian sausage for the classic southern treat 'sausage + peppers': We served a hot sausage with bell pepper sauté as a sandwich at the Butcher, but the combo is also great as an entrée, served over stone ground grits. Or think breakfast burrito: take the sausage out of it's casing (or not, you can eat the casing, it's all natural), brown it + then scramble some farmer's market eggs right in that meaty goodness. Season with S+P and add some hot sauce to taste. When done, wrap the egg-sausage mix with grated sharp cheddar in one of those giant tortilla. place the burrito back into the pan just for a minute or two on both sides until the cheese is melted + serve it with salsa. Ooh yeah,the day can now begin.