Italian Sausage
/Sausage making in Italy probably originated in Southern Italy in Basilicata, which was known as Lucania in ancient times. In the 5th Century BC, the Roman historian Marco Terenzio Varrone described soldiers stuffing meat into pig intestines together with spices and salt. They called the minced meat stuffed into a casing lucanica, because soldiers learned how to prepare it from the Lucanians.
The dish was served to Roman emperors who fell in love with it and its popularity then spread throughout the country. A version of the original sausage is now produced in Northern Italy and called luganega. Today its typical recipe includes salt, chili pepper, wild fennel, pepper and anise. It has a long horseshoe shape and is sold by the length instead of by weight.
Sausage differs from North to South in Italy. Here a few descriptions from lacucinaitaliana.com:
Finocchietto mon amour: This Calabrian sausage has a similar shape but different ingredients: in addition to the ubiquitous pork shoulder and belly, there is generally also a significant amount of spicy chili pepper, in addition to sweet chili peppers.
Cervellata in Toritto: Puglia offers both pork sausages and numerous specialties that mix beef and pork. This is prepared with selected cuts of beef (70%) and pork (30%) along with a rich condiment including fresh basil, garlic, pepper, salt and grated pecorino.
Canon: In Tuscany and Umbria, their salsiccia uses fatty meats more abundantly and seasons them with salt, pepper and lots of garlic, in addition to red wine.
Sausage is not cured and must be cooked, unlike salami and prosciutto, two other prominent pork products.
Our partnership with Sackett Farm Family, who raise only heritage breed Berkshire/Duroc pigs, allows us to offer more flavorful and extremely high quality product. M’tucci’s has been making sausage since we opened, using it on pizzas, in pasta dishes and braised over polenta, but we think our dishes with pork have risen to new heights.
After a lot of testing and tasting, we’re pretty excited for M’tucci’s Old World Artisanal Italian Sausage with Red Wine to be available in Albertsons Markets and M’tucci’s Restaurants in the next week. It will be sold in one pound packages in stores in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos.
The recipe was created by Company President/Executive Chef John Haas when M’tucci’s Italian opened eight years ago. The recipe had minor changes two years ago and is a blending of Southern Italian and Tuscan styles. Some of the ingredients are toasted fennel, garlic, crushed pepper and red wine. It’s all natural and does not contain any preservatives. Two videos are below, one showing how we braised it in a casing and serve it with soft polenta and one showing how to make Sausage Burgers. We know you will love it!
Prepare for sausage jokes:
What did one sausage say to the other? Let’s Link Up!
What did the female sausage say to the male sausage? Wait, did you put on a condiment?
Did you hear the one about the German Sausage? It was the wurst.
Pasta Della Forma at M’tucci’s Italian
A popular restaurant pasta preparation in Italy and in California is now in Albuquerque - only at M’tucci’s Italian. Pasta Della Forma (from formaggio which is Italian for cheese) is finished table side in a cheese wheel. We use Fresh House Spaghettini and Piave Vecchio, a cheese from the Veneto region near the Dolomite mountains. You have a choice of two toppings:
Mushroom Duxelle: Baby Portobello Mushrooms, Thyme, Garlic, White Wine
Roasted Red Bell Pepper/Sun-Dried Tomato Relish
Pasta Della Forma: Minimum of two people, Prepared Table side $38 Chef’s Condiments Add $3
I recommend a healthy grinding of fresh pepper. A short video shows how it’s done.
Weekend Specials
M’tucci’s Italian
24 oz Hand Cut Porterhouse: Crispy Salt Water Potatoes, Grilled Broccolini, Balsamic Reduction $38
Pan-Seared California White Sea Bass - Sweet Potato Puree, Broccolini, Sweet Pea and Duck Prosciutto Succotash $29
Crab & Cream Cheese Ravioli: House Crispy Bacon, Artichoke & Sweet Peas tossed in a Crab Thyme Cream Sauce $23
Pasta Della Forma: House Made Spaghettini & Piave Vecchio Cheese, Minimum of two orders, Prepared Table side - $38, Chef’s Condiments Add $3
Appetizers
Beer Battered Herbed Ricotta Stuffed Squash Blossoms: Capers, Oil Pickled Zucchini $10
Clam Toasts & Pancetta with Fennel, Sun-Dried Tomato, White Wine Butter Broth $12
Weekend Cocktail
Aloha Weekend: Pyrat Rum, Pineapple Rosemary Shrub, Vanilla Syrup, Orange and Lime Juice
Sunday Only
Half Rack of Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Salt Water Potatoes, House Made Cole Slaw and House BBQ Sauce for $18
M’tucci’s Moderno
16 oz. Veal Porterhouse: Crispy Saltwater Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus, Salsa Verde $36
Pan-Seared Barramundi: Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sautéed Arugula, Roasted Artichokes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, Prosciutto Powder $26
Crispy Chicken Confit Risotto: Wild Mushrooms, Roasted Celery & Carrots, Creamy Carnaroli Rice $19
Weekend Cocktail
Avión: made with Blanco Tequila, Creme de Violette, Maraschino Liqueur, Pineapple and Lime Juice
M’tucci’s Twenty-Five
Stuffed Sackett Farm Pork Loin: Stuffed with Seared Mushrooms, Artichokes, Spinach & Pecorino. Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Broccolini, Smoked Blackberry Bone Marrow Butter $22
Pan-Seared Ono: Seared Artichokes, Grilled Escarole, Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Lemon Caper Butter Sauce $21
Surf & Turf: 5 oz. Beef Tenderloin, Grilled Patagonian Pink Shrimp, Sweet Potato Mash, Grilled Broccolini, Balsamic Reduction $28
Gelato: Chocolate Hazelnut Stout
Sorbetto: Triple Berry
Tell ABQ - Taste of Summer
A new radio program that features local restaurants and is hosted by Jade and Ashley will have M’tucci’s Twenty-Five Chef/Partner Shawn Cronin as a guest on Tuesday, June 1 at 12:30. To listen to the live hour-long interview and to hear the hosts review of a recent visit to M’tucci’s Twenty-Five go to the App store for Apple or Android and download the Tell ABQ app. If you miss the live program, the show will be archived so you can listen at your own convenience. Don’t miss it!
Jade & Ashely from Tell ABQ - Taste of Summer, loving gelato at M’tucci’s Twenty-Five
M’tucci’s Gourmet TV Dinners
We appreciate your support, but all good things must come to an end. When the current inventory of TV dinners is gone - then they will be gone. There are a few left at each location.
Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. Ciao!
