Recipe: Elk Potato Sausage (a.k.a. Elk Potatiskorv)

When a recent dinner party unexpectedly jumped from four guests to eight, I realized I was going to be a bit short on the elk sausages I planned to serve. In researching ways to stretch the fresh sausage, I came across several recipes for Swedish Potato Sausage. This traditional pork sausage is still quite popular in the U.S. among the descendents of immigrant Swedes, particularly around the holidays when specialty butchers stock their meat counters with Potatiskorv.

Most recipes I’ve found call for equal parts ground beef, pork, and potatoes, with the addition of ground onions and salt and pepper to round it out. My adaptation swaps out the beef for elk (or any other venison), reduces the amount of pork to about half that of the venison along with an equal measure of potatoes. I’ve since made it with and without onions and prefer the latter, though both are delicious. A few recipes call for allspice, though I really like how this recipe lets the flavor of the meat be the star.
**
Elk Potato Sausage**

**Ingredients: **
2 lbs. ground elk (or venison of any persuasion)
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground potatoes
1 medium onion, ground (optional)
1 Tbsp., plus 1 tsp., kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. allspice (optional)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stuff into natural casings. (Bonus points if you use a cow horn in place of a modern sausage stuffer.)

To cook, place sausage in pot of cold water and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove sausage from water, pat dry and brown on grill or in skillet.