Wurst of Times

Think fast food is a new phenomenon? You haven’t heard about the big banger theory.

During my expedition through Europe last year, I found myself in Munich; cold, lonely and deathly starving after a day exploring Neuschwanstein Castle. My tour guide’s recommended remedy wasn’t a hot cup of Milo and biscuits or even a tub of ice cream. ‘Go to the first sausage stand you find and order the biggest Bratwurst there,’ he told me.

Like Kiwis who eat popsicles on a hot day at the beach, Münchners will often be seen walking around town chomping away on different varieties of wurst. Luckily for us, our bangers are much more appealing than the uncooked-looking Weisswurst, Munich’s most famous sausage.

A sizzler on the BBQ is as good as it gets for us Kiwis. Add to that a smothering of Watties tomato sauce, onions and a piece of fresh white bread and you have a winner.
Sausages are considered the earliest convenience foods of civilization. A clever butcher had the idea of gathering all the small bits and pieces of meats unsuitable for eating or cooking, adding salt and spices then stuffing the mass into a clean intestine for cooking, smoking or drying. Luckily for us, sausages have come a long way, and good quality ingredients are now readily available to create your own winning wiener.

The secret to a great sausage is to start with great meat. The most basic of bangers we have in New Zealand will include a mixture of ground meat, seasoning, fat and a bread-base ‘filler’, which are then stuffed into a natural or collagen casing.
The meat can be derived from almost any animal and the percentage of filler and fat to the meat you use is completely up to you. The roll of the filler is to compensate for the shrinkage of the meat during cooking by absorbing the liquid and expanding, which assists in retaining the shape of the sausage.

Although coming up with your own flavours is half the fun, if you’re worried your kielbasa is going to turn into a salty, slimy mess, ground mince can be purchased from your local butcher. Casings can also be found there.

Sausage making is not a difficult process, although you do need to have the correct equipment. A hand-operated meat grinder or mincer along with a sausage nozzle is all you really need to make franks at home. These cost around $300. Some cake mixers have attachments you could use.

The most important part of sausage making is to keep all components and machinery very cold during the process and to add crushed ice to the meat during mincing or grinding.
“To make a great sausage, like all cooking and food making, it starts with good quality ingredients,” says Hellers’ spokesperson, Brydon Heller. “You can get inspiration from menus, recipe books or TV food programmes. [The] sausage has changed from its humble beginnings to sausages that are now used for pizzas, pastas, antipasto and still the traditional bangers and mash.”

Making sausages at home is a rewarding and interesting craft. In complexity, it is somewhere between making bread and making beer or wine. The reward comes in the flavours that can't be matched by the industrial grandstander found in the supermarket and the knowledge of being in control of every ingredient that goes into that footlong.

Nakita Ardern


Sausage, Spaghetti and Herb Frittata
Claire Aldous
Lovely served hot for dinner or cold the next day for lunch, this is also a great recipe for using up leftover cooked spaghetti.
Serves 4–6

150 g dried spaghetti
olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
300g courgettes, thinly sliced
300g mild smoked sausage (such as Cabanossi), diced
2 handfuls of baby spinach
6 eggs
½ cup tomato-based pasta sauce
¼ cup cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a knob of butter
¼ cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
100g mozzarella, sliced

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente.
Drain, refresh under cold water and toss with a little olive oil. Set aside.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Add the courgettes and sausage and cook until lightly coloured. Add the spinach and stir to wilt.
Beat the eggs, pasta sauce and cream in a large bowl to just blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the spaghetti, courgette mixture and the herbs.
Heat a 25 cm non-stick, heatproof sauté pan with a little oil and a knob of butter.
Tip in the frittata and cook gently for about 20 minutes or until nearly set. Ensure the middle of the frittata is set, otherwise raw egg will spill out when cut.
Preheat the grill to its highest setting.
Nestle the cherry tomatoes on top, gently pushing them into the frittata, and dot the mozzarella over the top.
Place under the grill until set and golden on top. Serve with a salad and crusty bread.


Chunky Roast Vegetable Medley
Glenda Gourley
A firm favourite in our family. Even the children make this and, of course, they select only their favourite vegetables. We call it a ‘chop it up, chuck it in, come back later’ sort of meal. Use a combination of whatever is in season: carrot, parsnip, pumpkin, kumara, yams, courgette, scaloppini and capsicums are all good to include.
Serves 4 as a main meal or 8 as a snack

2 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges or chunks
8 baby onions, peeled
6 cloves garlic, skin on
3 cups chopped seasonal vegetables
3 rashers lean bacon, cut into strips and rolled (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lean sausages (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190˚C.
Mix the oil, rosemary, potatoes, onions, garlic, seasonal vegetables and bacon, if using, in a roasting dish. Season with salt and pepper.
If using sausages, with wet hands, squeeze small balls of sausage meat out of the sausage skins and drop them into the pan of vegetables.
Bake uncovered in a hot oven for 45–55 minutes until the potatoes are golden and tender. Turn once during cooking.


Sausages, Peppers and Spaghetti
Ray McVinnie
This makes an easy, quick family meal.
Serves 4–6

4 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red onions, chopped
1 yellow capsicum, seeds removed, sliced into
6 lengthways
1 green capsicum, seeds removed, sliced into 6 lengthways
6 spicy sausages, cut into 2 cm slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 x 400g can Roma tomatoes in juice, mashed
a big handful of rocket or baby spinach leaves
400g Italian spaghetti, boiled al dente in plenty of salted water, ready when needed
freshly grated Italian parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over moderate heat. Add the garlic, onions, capsicums and sausages. Season with salt and pepper. Panfry until the onions are soft and the sausage and the capsicums are browned.
Add the tomatoes and rocket or spinach. Adjust seasoning, if required, and mix to combine. Simmer until the rocket or spinach is well wilted.
Add the hot spaghetti, mix well and serve with plenty of parmesan sprinkled on top.

_{Comfort: Food for Sharing, edited by Lauraine Jacobs, photography by Nick Tresidder, RRP: $45.00.}