American Breakfast Sausage

2 1/2 lbs. ground pork
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. course ground red pepper
1 tbsp. sage

Mix in a stainless steel mixing bowl.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.   The next morning, fry a small amount and correct seasonings.  If the meat will not be used soon, shape into patties and layer them between sheets of waxed paper.  Put them into a plastic bag and freeze.

NOTE:  My mom used to buy a pork roast and have the butcher grind it up.  That gives lean with sufficient fat.  I buy very lean ground pork.  There is no fat that cooks out of it.  We can get fresh pork lard and I use that to cook the sausage when I am making sausage gravy. The red pepper I use is chile de arbol.  It's available in the Mexican grocery stores.  A little goes a long way.  I put the dry peppers (minus stems and a few seeds) into the blender and grind it.  It is not a fine powder.  You can still see whole seeds and bits of the pepper.
 

Italian Sausage

2 1/2 lbs. ground pork
1 med, onion finely chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. ground thyme
1/2 tsp. cayenne
 
Mix in a stainless steel bowl.  Store covered in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning fry a small amount and add more seasoning if needed.  Can be frozen like the breakfast sausage.

Note:  I usually add more seasonings than called for. The ground pork roast would be good for this also.