Italian Sausage Crumble, Trail Version
Fennel, oregano, and red pepper turned into a spice packet you carry, plus dried meat and couscous.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 144
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 15 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dehydrated cooked ground venison or beef | 3 oz | cooked lean, rinsed of fat, dried at 145F until it rattles |
|---|---|---|
| Couscous | 1/2 cup | rehydrates off the heat, no simmering |
| Fennel seed | 1/2 tsp | crush it between two rocks if you forgot at home |
| Crushed red pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 3/4 tsp | |
| Dried basil | 1/4 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Dried bell pepper | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | |
| Grated parmesan | 1/2 oz | the dry shelf-stable kind in the green can |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Put the meat, onion flakes, dried bell pepper, and every spice except the parmesan into the pot with 400 ml of water. Let it sit ten minutes cold if you have the time; the meat rehydrates better before it boils.
- Bring it to a boil and hold it there two minutes. The dried peppers need that to stop being leathery.
- Kill the heat, stir in the couscous, and clamp the lid on. Five minutes, no peeking.
- Fluff it, then stir in the parmesan and oil off the heat so the cheese does not seize into strings.
The original is a five-pound sausage grind with fresh garlic, suet, and a day in the fridge. None of that travels. What does travel is the seasoning ratio, which is the actual recipe: fennel leading, oregano behind it, red pepper and a little sugar underneath. Bind that to dried meat and a starch and you get the same flavor without a grinder or a cold chain.
The sugar is not there to sweeten. It rounds off the salt and the crushed pepper, which read harsh when there is no fat emulsion carrying them. The parmesan and oil go in last, after the burner is off — heat and hard cheese make a stringy mess, and the oil is where a third of the calories live.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one freezer bag except the parmesan and the oil. Parmesan clumps if it sits against warm meat, and oil rides in a dropper bottle.
Variations
- Swap the couscous for instant mashed potato flakes and add them a spoonful at a time until it stops being soup.
- No dehydrator: a foil pouch of chicken plus a pepperoni stick gets you the same spice profile with no home prep.
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/any-good-sausage-recipes-out-there.215932