Sausage in Italian cooking

[cpaccione]

I'm not a big fan of sausage and DH is as picky as it gets but has no suggestions as far as what kinds of sausage is good. He's Italian and his mom used to cook more authentic dishes but anything she used or cooked died with her. There are some recipes I want to try that use sausage but it says to use "sweet" sausage or "spicy" sausage but when I go to the store I have no idea what I'm looking at or looking for. Are all brands the same? Should I go to a Deli?

Anyone have any clue as to this whole sausage thing?

[Sevilla]

My family gets their spicy italian sausages from the butcher in our town, or else from more specialty italian stores (at least in our area there are a bunch).

I guess a supermarket would have them too, if they're larger. You'll want to look on the package for something that specifically labels it as 'italian' and 'spicy', etc... Otherwise you'll end up with bratwurst, most likely.

[Rose]

It would be in the chicken/meat section. It is raw so it won't be with other types of sausage. Most grocery stores will have a basic italian sweet/spicy sausage and probably one made from turkey too.

[Jazz]

I'm not Italian, but love to cook and eat it, so take what you will. :)

Look for uncooked pork sausages. A great cookbook is Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/039458404X/103-6511486-9169411?v=glance) -- seriously, not one of the recipes from this book has been disappointing. I looked at the recipes in her book that have sausages, and most say "mild pork sausage, containing no herbs or strong spices". Hope that helps!

[cpaccione]

Thanks so much for the responses. I never thought to look in the chicken/meat section. I always look in some other section where it's mostly frozen stuff and doesn't look very good.

I would love to have an Italian Deli in our area...but haven't been able to find anything that looks right.

Jazz Thanks for the rec on the book. I think I'll have to check that one out! :)

[eponymous]

Trader Joe's has a great Italian Spicy Chicken sausage. It's obviously not superauthentic, but it's much healthier than traditional stuff and very, very good. Probably not what you're looking for, but I thought I'd mention it. It's a good way for me include a healthier verison of something I grew up with.

[cpaccione]

Thanks! That actually sounds really good.

[Rose]

Trader Joes's also has a good wine & cheese sausage.

[dionysia]

I'll 2nd the Trader Joe's sausages.

Also, any grocery store will have spicy Italian or sweet sausages in the meat section.

We like to take 2 spicy links, squeeze the filling out of the casings into a saucepan, brown the sausage, and then add pasta sauce to it. Add in some basil, oregano, garlic, & thyme and you have instant 'doctored' Italian sauce! MMMM!

Di