Got SISU?

Got SISU is Finnish:  got guts, tenacity, or bravery?

      Cudighi (coo-di-hay) is an Italian sausage that originated in northern Italy seasoned with sweet spices but is now primarily made and served in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  You’ll see it on the menu of many mom-and-pop restaurants and bars that serve burgers and sandwiches.  If you’re a “Yooper,” you’re most certainly familiar with cudighi.  You’ve had it in a sandwich with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, on pizza, or in other dishes that would traditionally be make with Italian sausage.  

      While the cudighi originated in Northern Italy, it's now primarily served in the Upper Peninsula—particularly in Marquette County. The sandwich and its signature sausage were initially sold in northern Michigan by Italian immigrants in 1936, who called it 'Gudighi'.

      We were 'turned on' to it by some friends we met while camping and rockhounding in the Keweenaw Peninsula.  They referred us to Ralph's Italian Deli in Ishpeming, home of the cudighi voted best in the UP.  The meat comes in mild, med, or hot.  I can eat all three, but Barb loves the medium, so be it.  It is available most parts of the UP.  We found our most recent batch in Houghton from Vollwerths Meats.  

      The meat is a sausage that can be used in just about anything you would use pork sausage for.  Sandwiches, casseroles, mac n cheese, breakfast.  The Italian spices and herbs give it something a bit more.  It leaves you with a full, comfortable, tackle the day feeling.  These are a few of our favorite recipes.  

Cudighi Sausage Sandwich

1 lb Cudighi

1 small red pepper, sliced

1 small green pepper, sliced

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

1 Tbsp sunflower oil

kosher salt and pepper

1 slice goat cheese, (optional) Provolone, Monterey Jack, or Mozzarella

Good Focaccia or French Baguettes

Mustard Sauce  (you can make your own)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 tbsp stone ground mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

kosher salt and pepper to taste

      Mold Cudighi into patties.  Slice peppers and onions thinly, about 2" long.

      Mix the mayo, mustards, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and minced garlic together in a small bowl. Season with Kosher salt and pepper to taste.

      Add about a tablespoon of sunflower oil to a cast iron pan.  Heat to medium-high and add the peppers and onions.  Cook until soft and browned.   Remove from the pan.  Add the sausage patties and cook for about 4-6 minutes each side or until cooked through.  Use a spatula to gently press down the patties so the entire sausage touches the cooking surface.  If using cheese, add to the top of each patty when the patties are nearly finished and let melt. Remove from pan.

      Add the sliced baguettes, inside down, to the pan and toast.  Flip and toast the outside slightly. Remove from pan.

      Spread mustard sauce on both slices of the baguette. Add one sausage patty to the bread and some onions and peppers.  Serve hot. 

  

Freaking delicious, this WILL fill your tummy

Breakfast/Brunch Skillet

1 lb. Cudighi Sausage crumbled

6 cups Potatoes cubed

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Fresh Ground Pepper

½ cup Onion chopped

¼ - ½ pound Cheese Curds

4 Eggs

1 Tbsp Parsley chopped

      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large skillet/cast iron over medium heat, cook the cudighi sausage.  Remove sausage from the pan, leaving the drippings.

      Microwave the potatoes to give them a head start on the cooking process.  Place the potatoes in a shallow bowl and microwave for 4 minutes, covered.

      Add the olive oil to the pan.  Once the oil is heated, add the potatoes, salt, and fresh ground pepper.  Let the potatoes cook for 15-20 minutes, turning over every 5 minutes to brown, not burn.  After 10 minutes add the onions.  Reduce the heat to low.  Add the sausage and curds to the pan.

      Create four shallow wells in the sausage hash. Crack an egg into each well. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs are set. If you like a firmer egg, cook up to an additional 2-3 minutes.  No additional seasoning is needed.  Tasty as is, serve. 

      Think of this as a hybrid cross between Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage and Italian Sausage.  The blended taste is incredible and worth the journey.  We don't get it often but love it when we do. 

SAD SIDE NOTE:  It was announced recently that Ralph's Italian Deli in Ishpeming will close the end of this month due to retirement.  The best cudighi in the entire UP. They will be missed. 

“A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.”

Thomas Keller

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