Merguez turkey sausage patties
Ingredients
- 16 ounces turkey (ground)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley (fresh) or cilantro leaves
- 1-1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp fennel (dried) ground
- 1 tsp cumin (dried)
- 1/2 tsp coriander (dried)
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda omit for lowest-sodium version
- 1/4 tsp smoked salt omit for lowest-sodium version
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Place parsley and garlic in a food processor and process until finely minced. Add meat and sprinkle in remaining ingredients, then pulse just until blended.
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Form patties straight from the food processor using an ice cream scoop, flattening them as you add them to the hot oil.
- Cook about 3 minutes per side, until meat is cooked through.
- Serve immediately, refrigerate to use later, or freeze once completely cool.
Flavorful turkey sausage patties adapted from one of my favorite new cookbooks: Well Fed 2 by Melissa Joulwan
Melissa used to write a blog called Clothes Make the Girl but rebranded her site to her name. She’s an inspiring success story from a paleo perspective, having addressed some serious health issues through a paleo diet. She’s a go-to recipe developer for the folks at Whole30, and I’ve used many of her recipes in the past. And she’s personally inspiring to me, having two best-selling self-published cookbooks. I appreciate how generous she is in helping others, putting me in touch with her printer and giving me advice when I was working on my book Golden Angels.
I adapted this from her recipe for merguez meatballs.
Melissa loves seasoning blends and is super-creative, and I love that all the recipes are gluten-free (because they’re grain-free), free of all sugar, and made from whole foods. Her Protein chapter features a master recipe for ground meat that can be made into burgers, meatballs, or sausage shapes and cooked in three ways (grilled, stove top, baked), with FIFTEEN spice variations. Amazing.
My renovation: I took her merguez sausage recipe, which calls for ground lamb, and used ground turkey because it’s much less expensive and more available. I omitted the additional pepper in the recipe, as her spice blend is perfectly spicy for me. I love that I can toss the garlic and a handful of parsley in the food processor, pulse to mince it, then add the meat, seasoning, and her tenderizing secret (cream of tartar and baking soda mixed in warm water) and pulse a few times to mix. I’m ready to form sliders by the time the pan is heated up! I use an ice cream scoop to form them so they’re all the same size. Her tenderizing secret truly makes for great-tasting burgers or sliders; the meat is crispy on the outside and super-juicy inside.
Once they’re cooked they reheat beautifully for breakfast and are perfect to put in a paleo wrap when I’m traveling for some clean, low-sodium protein. Please visit Melissa’s wonderful website for her original recipe, and enjoy!
These look delectable Stephanie! I have a true weakness when it comes to sausage. This books looks like a perfect “go to” book for anyone following the Paleo diet and I loved hearing about Melissa’s inspirational story!