Background: One of the things we make after breaking down a pork shoulder is breakfast sausage, without added fat. It’s part of our playbook and is based on Southern recipes so there’s plenty of spice and herbs inside, and it’s perfect for making meatloaf when combined with some ground beef, Kobe/Wagyu or bison. There is normally enough for three meals, my favorites are with Pennsylvania Dutch egg noodles and a mushroom marsala sauce, mashed root vegetables and mushroom sauce, duck fat potatoes and chimichurri. 

INGREDIENTS: 

 Meatloaf:

1 lb breakfast sausage (for homemade breakfast sausage, we use Alton Brown’s recipe https://altonbrown.com/recipes/homemade-breakfast-sausage/ )
1 lb ground beef or bison
8 oz Pennsylvania Dutch egg noodles cooked
½ large yellow onion finely chopped
½ red pepper finely chopped
1 large jalapeno finely chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 egg beaten
¾ cup half and half
½ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp fresh grated horseradish
½ tsp fennel seed ground
2 tbsp olive oil
Sauce:
2 tbsp marsala wine
½ tsp molasses
½ tsp. brown sugar
1 cup beef stock
1 large shallot finely chopped
½ tsp fermented hot sauce (recipe in condiment section)
3-4 oz baby Bella mushrooms
0.4 oz dehydrated porcini and chanterelle mushrooms; 1 tbsp. olive oil; 2 tbsp. butter.  

STEPS:

  1. Heat up a non-stick pan and add the oil, onion, red pepper, jalapeno and allow to sweat till the onions are just opaque. Add the garlic and cook for another minute then remove from the heat.
  2. In a large bowl combine the sausage, beef (or bison), egg, breadcrumbs, panko, Worcestershire, fennel, horseradish, and half and half which should create a “moat” around the other ingredients.  
  3. Next add the hot ingredients and mix to combine minimally. The meat mixture should be loose and creamy looking.
  4. Place the mixture in a 9’X13’ baking dish (glass preferred) and spread out to a depth of about ¾ inch.  Place in a preheated 375F oven for about 45 minutes (watching for it to “tighten up” then remove from the oven.
  5. While the meatloaf is cooking, in a small pot add the olive oil, allow to heat up, add the shallots and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes stirring often. Next drop in the marsala and cook for another minute, then add the stock, molasses, brown sugar, hot sauce, mix to combine and cook down by about 30 percent, stirring often. Once reduced add the butter and stir until well incorporated. Turn off the heat.
  6. Divide the cooked noodles between two plates, then take about 1/3rd of the meatloaf out of the baking dish to a cutting board, cut crosswise into ½”- ¾” sections and lay over the noodles, then spoon the sauce over both plates and serve.
  7. “Smashed Root Vegetables” in the “Sides” section can be used instead of noodles and are great for leftovers.
  8. The third variation of this dish utilizes our “Duck Fat Potatoes” from the “Sides” section and your favorite chimichurri recipe, we use a version of Mirta Rinaldi’s recipe which uses cilantro (50%) with the parsley and white balsamic vinegar (Food and Wine, September 2021, page 42) but any personal favorite is fine.