Venison Cudighi

Let me guess, you have never heard of Cudighi. That's not surprising at all. Cudighi is a very regional sausage found in a few towns in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. So what is Cudighi? Cudighi is a spicy Italian sausage that is typically used for sandwiches or as a pizza topping. Many restaurants in the UP serve Cudighi sandwiches that are grilled and topped with pizza sauce, onions and mozzarella cheese. I absolutely love these things!

Before we can enjoy one of these delicious sandwiches we first need to make some sausage.

Venison Cudighi

• 3lbs Ground Venison
• 3lbs Ground Pork
• 2Tbs Salt
• 1tsp Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2tsp Nutmeg
• 1/2tsp Allspice
• 1tsp Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)
• 1 Cup Dry Red Wine (I prefer Chianti)
• 6 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 2 or 3 Whole Cloves

First combine the wine, cinnamon stick, garlic and cloves in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, Then simmer for five minutes. Strain and set aside for cool completely.

Now take the salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and mix together. Add the spice mixture to the ground venison and pork and mix thoroughly. Next add the cooled wine and mix thoroughly. Now let the sausage season in the refrigerator for a couple days.

At this point I like to form into quarter pound patties and freeze them until ready to use. Another option is to leave them in bulk packages to use as a great substitute for Italian sausage.