Italian sausage

What to buy

For soup, buy it in bulk or squeeze it out of the casings. The soup here uses a pound of mild and a pound of hot.

Facts

• Federal rules require Italian sausage to be at least 85 percent meat, or meat and fat, with fat no more than 35 percent of the finished product. 9 CFR 319.145, Italian sausage products, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
• The same rules say it must contain salt, pepper, and either fennel or anise, or both. 9 CFR 319.145, Italian sausage products, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
• Hot Italian sausage gets a dash or two of hot red pepper flakes. Sweet, or mild, is simply the less spicy version. What Is The Difference Between Italian Sausage And Sweet Italian Sausage?, Chowhound
• The federal safe minimum for ground meat and sausage made from pork is 160°F. In the Kitchen: Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures, University of Maine Cooperative Extension