Goat sausage and a spiced tomato sauce

By: Chui Lee Luk
From: Green Pickled Peaches
Serves: 4
Photographer: Chris Chen

This perhaps answers the obvious question of what to do with an excess of goat meat. I think the herbs and chilli flavours are great foils to any gamey meat. This will serve four people with leftover sausage. The rest of the sausage can be frozen and taken out gradually for use (I find it’s a lot of effort otherwise to make a smaller amount of sausages).

For the goat sausage

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	caul fat
1 large handful	salt
100ml	vinegar
250g	pork back fat
2	brown onions, finely diced
4	garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g	lean goat meat, (i use leg meat)
200g	lean veal meat
1 teaspoon	thyme leaves, finely chopped
1 large handful	p arsley leaves, finely chopped
1/4	bunch marjoram, leaves picked and finely chopped
4	bird’s eye chillies, blackened and mashed
50ml	cognac
2 teaspoons	freshly ground black pepper
15g	s ausage mix
100ml	iced water for each 1 kg of sausage mix

For the spiced tomato sauce

Quantity	Ingredient
2kg	ripe and flavoursome tomatoes, peeled
1 tablespoon	salt
250ml	olive oil
1/2	bunch thyme
1	brown onion, finely diced
10	garlic cloves, finely chopped
5	bird’s eye chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
100g	ginger, peeled and finely chopped
	brown sugar, to taste

For the eggplant (aubergine) relish

Quantity	Ingredient
1	eggplant
	peanut oil, for deep-frying
250ml	veal stock or dark brown chicken stock
	mixed fine-leafed shiso, basil leaves and marsh s amphire, (see glossary) to garnish

Method

Make the goat sausage:
Prepare the caul fat by soaking in 5 litres of water with the salt and vinegar overnight. Check the caul fat is properly bleached before use, otherwise repeat the process. Finely chop 50 g of the pork back fat. Melt in a pan over medium–low heat and then add the onions. Cook until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so until fragrant. Transfer to a tray to cool down, then cool in the refrigerator. Finely dice the remaining pork back fat with the goat and veal meat. It is important to keep all ingredients as cold as possible.
Combine the cooled onion mixture, diced meat, herbs, mashed chillies, cognac and pepper. Weigh the mixture and work out the amount of salt and iced water required. Mix in the salt and continue mixing until the ingredients emulsify (an electric mixer can be used here). Gradually add the iced water as you go. Use a sausage maker to pipe the filling into sausage skins, or wrap it in caul fat. Divide the mix into 5 portions. Make each sausage about 10 cm long by 4 cm wide and 3 cm high. Leave for at least a couple of hours before cooking, preferably overnight.
Make the spiced tomato sauce:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Halve the tomatoes and macerate with the salt for 30 minutes, then strain the juice and reserve. Toss the tomatoes with 150 ml of the olive oil, spread over two trays and roast for about 1½ hours, until dry and a nice caramel colour. You may need to turn the tomatoes during the cooking time.
Meanwhile, make a paste of the thyme, onion, garlic, chillies and ginger with the remaining 100 ml of olive oil. In a large pan cook gently for around 30–40 minutes until the solids separate from the oil and it no longer tastes raw. Add the tomatoes and their oil to the cooking paste, along with the reserved tomato water. Cook gently until no liquid remains. Adjust the seasoning with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper to taste; you may need to add a little brown sugar if the mixture tastes too acidic.
Make the eggplant relish:
Trim the top off the eggplant and cut it lengthways into slices about 3 mm thick. Heat the oil to 180°C and deep-fry the slices a few at a time. Drain on paper towels. Spread a small spoonful of tomato sauce over each eggplant slice and fold in half. Heat the stock in a pan to simmering point. Gently add the eggplant and 2–3 spoonfuls of oil from the tomato sauce. Cook until the eggplant softens. Taste the sauce to check that it is slightly acidic. If not, add some of the tomato sauce.
Assemble the dish:
Fry the sausages over medium–high heat. They should be browned all over but remain succulent inside (you can finish them in a hot oven for 10 minutes if you like). Rest for a few minutes before cutting into 3 cm slices. Arrange on plates with some eggplant relish and spoon the sauce over. Serve garnished with mixed leaves.

To make bla ckened mashed chillies

To prepare the chillies, hold them with tongs over an open flame or grill until the skins blacken all over. When cool enough to handle, peel away the skin. Finely chop the flesh, then mash finely with a little salt using the back of a knife.