101 Ways to Make Wild Boar Sausage

I have two recipes and I’m looking for 99 more. Please post ideas below.

The other day I ran across a recipe in the Blogosphere for wild boar sausage that answered my question of what appetizer to bring to our upcoming wine club (this was our first meeting and these people are serious foodies, so I was feeling a bit of pressure to impress!). Plus it was the PERFECT excuse to order wild boar sausage from work… there are so many products I’m dying to try, but have been doing my best to pace myself!

This appetizer was a huge hit with the West Coast Wine-Knows and I’m going to use it again. I made just a few adaptations from the original recipe:

Recipe #1
Shiraz-Poached Dried Fig and Wild Boar Sausage Skewers
Recipe adapted from About.com.

Makes 32 Appetizer Size Skewers

• 1 ½ cups shiraz (I bought the cheap stuff at Trader Joe’s)
• ½ cup sugar
• Fresh cracked black pepper (about 10 turns or more to taste)
• 16 dried black mission figs, halved (I used 32 whole figs)
• 1 pound (4 links) wild boar sausage
• ½ cup watercress leaves
• ½ cup crushed walnuts (original recipe called for hazelnuts)
• Small bamboo skewers

Bring the wine, sugar and pepper to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the figs, and simmer for 15 minutes. The figs will absorb some of the wine, but won’t become too soft. Remove the figs from the wine mixture and let cool completely on a plate.

Grill or BBQ the wild boar sausage (they took about 10 minutes to cook through). Let cool to room temperature and cut each sausage into 8 pieces.

Push a skewer into a fig, then through a watercress leaf, and then into a sausage piece. Once all the skewers are ready, sprinkle the crushed nuts on a serving platter, and serve the skewers on top.

Notes: I doubled the recipe for our party and this was ideal to make ahead since it’s served at room temperature. We just popped the whole skewer in our mouths so all the flavors meshed. Next time I might throw on a cube of cheese as well and use fresh figs when they’re in season. 
 

A few nights later I was ready to serve wild boar sausage as main course.

Recipe #2
Grilled Wild Boar Sausage over Caramelized Onion, Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

• Penne Pasta
• Caramelized Onions
• 3 Bell Peppers (different colors)
• Goat Cheese
• Mascarpone Cheese
• Reserved pasta cooking water
• Fresh Spinach
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Sorry for the lack of measurements, but really any amounts (and veggie substitutions) will work here. I cooked 1 lb. of penne pasta al dente and reserved about a cup of the cooking water.

On the stove caramelize onions, then add bell peppers and cheeses.

Grill the wild boar sausage for 10 minutes.

Fold the veggie/cheese mixture into the pasta. Add reserved water (just for a little extra creaminess) and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in a few handfuls of fresh spinach.

Serve the sausage over the pasta (or I suppose it could be sliced and mixed into the pasta dish as well).

The dish was rich and delicious, but a little monochromatic so next time I’ll add a few more colorful veggies. 
 

I have exactly 36 wild boar links left in my freezer and I’m open to suggestions for recipes to fill up the next 99 slots on my list. Please post your ideas below: