Mortadella is a beloved Italian meat from Bologna that is incredibly easy to make at home!
Mortadella is a delicious Italian meat that I’ve enjoyed since I was a little girl. It is a speciality of Bologna but incredibly easy to make at home. Try out my family’s recipe and make the best homemade panini, pasta and more! You will need a meat grinder, a food processor and lots of ice for this project. This recipe yields 3 lbs of mortadella.
Ingredients:
8 oz boneless lean beef, cut into large cubes
8 oz lean pork, cut into large cubesย
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 oz kosher salt
12 oz pork back fat, cut into large cubes
10 oz crushed ice + more for chilling
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground bay leaves
1/2 cup pork back fat, blanched
1/2 cup roasted pistachios
18 inch casing
Process:
Combine beef, pork, wine, garlic and salt in a meat grinder and grind through the smallest setting into a bowl. Set the bowl over ice and refrigerate covered for an hour or so.
Grind the 12 oz pork back fat next through the same small setting into a separate bowl, place in the freezer.
Put the ground meat into a food processor with ice, pepper, mace, bay leaves and nutmeg. Mix until smooth (about 5 minutes). Temperature should be 40 degrees F.ย
Next add the frozen pork back fat and mix for another 5 or so minutes until the temperature reaches 45 degrees F.
Transfer mixture to a bowl over ice and fold in blanched pork fat and pistachios.
Tie one end of the casing into a bubble knot (watch video here) and stuff the mixture into the casing. Tie off the other end into another bubble knot.
Cook in a 170 F degree water bath for an hour or until the internal temp reaches 150 F.ย
Chill thoroughly using more ice and refrigerate.ย
To serve, thinly slice using a meat slicer or knife. Mortadella is delicious on panini, pizza, pasta and more!