In Europe, liverwursts are a popular lunchtime snack. This is a liver sausage that can be spread on bread or sliced. This recipe uses pork liver, butt and fat. The mixture is then ground and placed in a muslin case and simmered over several hours. The liverwurst casing can be removed after the sausage has been refrigerated for several hours. The sausage is usually spread on rye or white bread with mustard or mayonnaise (or both), and sometimes onions or lettuce.
You will need to sew a piece 12 inches by 8 inches of unbleached, non-cotton muslin (or large collagen casings) together. Check with an independent butcher if your local grocery store doesn’t carry pork liver. They should be able order it for you. This recipe comes from “Home Sausage Making”, by Charles G. Reaves, Evelyn Battaglia and Mary Reilly.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh pork liver, cubed
- Lean Pork Butt, 3/4 Pound, Cubed
- 1/4 pound pork fat, cubed
- 1 large sweet white onion, finely diced
- 3 tablespoons powdered dry milk
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or more to taste
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon mace
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
How to Make it
- Gather ingredients.
- Put the liver, butt and fat of pork through the fine blades of a grinder one at a time.
- Mix all three together and grind them.
- Mix thoroughly the ground meat with onion, dry powdered milk, white pepper and salt. Add paprika and sugar.
- Mixture through fine blade grinder two more times. Chill mixture between each grinding for 30 minutes.
- Mixture into muslin case. To get started, it helps to fold over the open end. It is easier to get down the bottom if you fold over the open end. As firmly as you can, pack the meat.
- Close the open end with a twist tie or stitch it closed.
- Bring water to a rolling boil and place the liverwurst into a large pot. Add enough water to cover it by two or three inches. Place the sausage in the boiling water, and add a weight to keep it under. Three or four large dinner plates will do.
- Reduce heat when water returns to boiling. Cook for three hours.
- Replace hot water with ice water in an equal amount. Let the liverwurst cool in iced water.
- Remove the muslin casing and place in refrigerator. Chill overnight. Remove the muslin case.
How to store
Keep the liverwurst and sausage in your refrigerator for 10 days.
You can also check out our Tips
- If you don’t have pork liver on hand, you can substitute beef or calves.
- You can use a food processor if you don’t own a meat processor. However, it is recommended that you freeze the cubes of pork before processing so they do not become mushy.
- You can also bake the mixture directly in a loaf pan instead of stuffing it into a casing. Bake the loaf in a bath of water for two hours at 300 F. Refrigerate for 24 hours, then slice and serve.
- To prepare the liverwurst faster, you can cook it in jars using a Pressure Cooker.