Ground Venison Italian Sausage

1. Thaw ground venison in a paper towel-lined bowl in the fridge. This helps remove off flavors and excess liquid from the meat.
2. Combine all spices in a small bowl.
3. Add spices to ground venison. Drizzle red wine vinegar over meat.
4. Mix sausage together with your hands until spices are evenly distributed in the meat.
5. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cooking, preferably overnight to let the flavors marry.
6. Heat a cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Add lard or bacon fat to pan if your meat doesn't have fat ground in.
7. Add sausage to pan and spread out in a thin layer. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until browned and crispy (but not burned) on the bottom.
8. Flip the meat and break it up into smaller pieces. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
9. Remove from pan and enjoy on its own or as an ingredient for other delicious recipes!

Notes:

1. You can make several batches of the seasoning mixture (without the vinegar) and store it in glass jars for future use. The seasoning mixture ends up being around 3 tablespoon per pound of meat. You can label the jars "Italian Sausage Seasoning. 3 tablespoon per lb + 1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar."
2. This seasoning mixture can be ground into your venison before freezing if you prefer to have several packages of Italian sausage on hand.