A classic and elegant pork sausage, which you could use without casings for a pasta al sugo in the winter or alongside a pea-shoot salad for a spring lunch.

These links are best pan-fried in a little oil over a medium-low flame, and ideally should be served a little pink inside for maximum juiciness.

Steps

1. Cut the pork and fat into ½-inch cubes; spread them on a tray and freeze for about 1 hour. Pass the lean and the fat through the ¼-inch plate of a grinder into a large mixing bowl.
2. Mix together all the dry spice ingredients in a small bowl until well blended. Add to the ground pork along with the red wine, and mix thoroughly by hand. Mix the pork with the spices quickly, so as to keep the forcemeat as cool as possible.
3. Prepare the hog casings by rinsing in cool water and flushing with water. Load the sausage stuffer with forcemeat and attach an appropriate-size stuffing tube. Slide the casings onto the stuffer and tie off at the end. Stuff the forcemeat into the casings. Twist off the sausage into 5-inch links and prick links to remove any air pockets. If possible, hang the sausages on hooks in the fridge or lay them out on a rack in the fridge and allow to dry for 24 hours before using.