Mortadella: 'Fancy' Italian Bologna
A home cook's five-pound batch of traditional pork-and-beef mortadella, emulsified smooth and studded with cubes of white pork back fat, whole peppercorns and pistachios.
Ingredients
| 5 lbs | 2.3 kg | lean meat, 2:1 pork to beef (beef chuck, pork loin, pork shoulder) |
| 1/2 lb | 225 g | pork back fat, cut into 1/4 inch cubes |
| — | curing salt (Cure #1) | |
| — | non-fat dry milk | |
| — | ground spices | |
| — | whole black peppercorns | |
| — | whole pistachios | |
| — | salt |
Instructions
- Choose good meat in a 2 to 1 pork-to-beef ratio using fairly lean cuts (beef chuck, pork loin, a little pork shoulder). Aim for 80-85% lean to 15-20% fat overall.
- Cut the pork back fat into 1/4 inch cubes and keep chilled; it will be added whole at the end.
- Grind Number One: run the chilled meat through a 4.5 mm medium plate to start.
- Add the majority of the spices, the non-fat dry milk and the cure, then mix thoroughly (a bucket-style meat mixer makes quick work of it) until well blended in under a minute.
- Second grind: pass the seasoned meat through a 3.0 mm fine plate to build a smooth, emulsified paste.
- Final mix: fold the reserved 'whole' ingredients into the paste - the whole peppercorns, the pistachios and the fat cubes - mixing well to disperse them evenly.
- Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator overnight.
- Stuff the paste (into casing or packed into the ham maker) ready for cooking.
- Because this product is not smoked, cook it thoroughly in a gentle water bath and chill well before slicing very thinly to serve.