Making seafood sausage is a fantastic, underappreciated technique to transform bland seafood, like some tired sole and salmon that has been frozen, into something that appears to be much more remarkable. The texture is similar to a boudin blanc, or white hot dog, if you like, and the flavor is delightful. Although you can brown and serve these as soon as they are finished boiling, I prefer to prepare them in advance.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 55 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 sausages |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter, or to taste, divided
- 2 tablespoons minced shallot
- 8 ounces boneless, skinless sole, chilled and cubed
- 1 (4 ounce) skinless salmon fillet, chilled and cubed
- 4 ounces shrimp – chilled, peeled, deveined, and chopped
- 2 tablespoons plain dry breadcrumbs
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 pinches cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons cold butter
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Melt 2 teaspoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute shallots until soft and sweetened, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
- Combine sole, salmon, and shrimp in a food processor. Add bread crumbs. Pour in egg whites and whole egg. Season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper. Add the cooled shallots and parsley.
- Cover processor and pulse on and off, starting with short pulses and transitioning to longer ones, until mixture is well blended and clumps together at the blade. Transfer mixture to a bowl, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.
- Transfer 1/4 of the sausage mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into a log with dampened fingertips. Roll in the plastic, twisting the ends to seal. Lay the log onto a piece of aluminum foil and roll it up. Twist the ends in opposite directions, but not too tightly. Fold the ends back. Repeat with the remaining sausage mixture.
- Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Add the sausages and submerge them with a plate. Cover pot and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
- Transfer sausages into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the water and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Peel foil off of the sausages over a piece of paper towel. Snip off 1 end of the plastic wrap and squeeze the sausage out through the opening. Trim off any unsightly chunks.
- Melt remaining butter in a pan over medium heat. Cook sausages in the hot butter, turning until browned all over, 5 to 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the sausages reads 140 degrees F (60 degrees C), 5 to 6 minutes more. Repeat with remaining sausages.
- Pour water and lemon juice into the same pan and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by 1/2, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low; add cold butter and parsley. Swirl pan until butter is melted; season with salt and swirl once more. Spoon sauce over the sausages.
- You can substitute onion and/or garlic for the shallots if you want to. If using fine salt, use 1 1/4 teaspoons instead of 2.
- You can substitute any white fish for the sole. Makes sure your fish is well chilled; cold meat makes better sausage.
- This recipe makes a smooth-style sausage. If you want something with a coarser texture, simply make the sausage mixture as shown, but then fold in a few handfuls of chopped shrimp, scallop, or any other seafood. Once it’s cooked and sliced, you’ll see pieces of whatever you added studding the link.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 284 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 165 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 1285 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Added just pinch of white wine…
Absolutely delicious! I can’t believe it’s so easy and fun to make your own sausage. The cooking method makes it extra healthy as well. And the flavor is simply explosive!
I was sooo skeptical because the technique seemed difficult and I was sure I was just going to end up with a shapeless lump of chopped fish. But it worked flawlessly! These were really delicious. Next time I’d love to try serving appetizer style, by slicing up and dipping in maybe a lemon aioli.
Easy to make tough a bit lengthy. So delicious! I used halibut instead of sole and crab instead of shrimp.
Fantastic! Made it more Keto friendly and used almond flour for the bread crumbs with great results! Super easy and an incredibly unique dish! Need to add more spice for personal flavor…..Will make this over and over!!!
Very good! Made it for Christmas dinner. I’d like to try different combinations of this seafood sausage. Rockfish seemed to work well for the white fish.
I was doubtful about the sausages, but in my efforts to use more fish, I decided to make them. They are easy to make, that is for sure. I love brauts and so I wanted more flavor. I added 1 tbsp dried chopped red and green bell peppers, and some red chile pepper. Instead of sauteing them in butter to brown, I rolled them in egg and bread crumbs. Then I popped them into the air fryer for browning. They were crispy and SOOOO good. The men folk loved them. Next time, I will omit the salt and use garlic. Thank you for a great recipe.
My only change was to use Talapia instead of sole. This is a fantastic dish. I have made it for guests twice and everyone has been impressed. Because its so messy to make, I do a double batch and freeze half. And I save a lot of work by buying a carton of liquid egg whites. They don’t lose any flavor by being frozen. This one goes into my regular rotation. Highly recommended.
I made this today. the only thing I changed was I added 4 diced portobello mushrooms to the shallots. my family loves mushrooms. dear god , it was amazing. thank you chef john. you are awesome.
Holy . This was absolutely delicious. I had real reservations about making sausages from seafood. Falling apart in the water. Water leaking in, looks disgusting while making lol. Used salmon, cod, shrimp, and artificial crab. I can’t say enough about this idea as recipe. Made way too much. Looking forward to leftovers.
I have to admit, I was skeptical about this. This was a HUGE HIT! Very different but absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe and it turned out perfect. I honestly don’t think I would change anything except maybe adding a few more spices. Great change to the menu and will make again!
FANTASTIC recipe! Made it exactly as written. The flavor was wonderful, mild, not rich at all. The texture was soft and almost melt in your mouth. When he says don’t wrap it to tight…don’t. I wrapped a few a little to tight and yes, they did explode. They still were wonderful!
FANTASTIC recipe! Made it exactly as written. The flavor was wonderful, mild, not rich at all. The texture was soft and almost melt in your mouth. When he says don’t wrap it to tight…don’t. I wrapped a few a little to tight and yes, they did explode. They still were wonderful!
Easy to make and very tasty. The trouble I had was, though I followed the instructions regarding wrapping the sausages for poaching, they all bust out of the plastic and foil during the poaching process. Nonetheless, they cooked through and browned nicely and were enjoyed by all the family.
OK, I’ll admit it. I have been all over the world, and I have honestly never heard of sausage made from seafood. I like to challenge myself in the kitchen sometimes, and this recipe did not let me down. I doubled this recipe the first time I made it, and was amazed at how it turned out – exactly like Chef John’s video! Amazing!