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Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.
Scrapple comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch, German-speaking immigrants who weren’t actually Dutch but got stuck with the name for reasons that linguists still argue about. When they slaughtered a pig back in their European homeland, these not-Dutch folks would boil the leftover scraps, add some ground buckwheat to thicken the pork stock into a sort of mush, let that cool and solidify, then fry slices of the mush to give them a crispy exterior.
When they got to America, they switched from buckwheat to corn, and the German dish ponhas eventually became scrapple. Fortunately, you don’t need to butcher a pig to make something that’s not exactly scrapple but provides a similar porky flavor and pan-fried texture. Think grilled polenta with a meaty surprise inside. While usually served with eggs for breakfast, scrapple makes a great side, and a crispy slice also makes a great sandwich. I usually drizzle mine with a little cane syrup (you can order Steen’s cane syrup online) and a healthy splash of Crystal hot sauce, but hot honey works well, too.
I like to use bulk breakfast sausage since it’s usually flavored with lots of sage, a traditional herb used in scrapple. But plain ground pork works, too, and you can add your own sage along with any other flavors you like. Or run with the polenta similarity and use Italian sausage.
But while your choice of ground pork has some leeway, make sure you use whole grain ground corn. Sometimes labeled “stone ground” and either “grits” or “polenta,” whole grain corn includes the germ and bran and not only tastes better, but includes all the nutrients. And while polenta is traditionally made from flint corn and grits from dent corn, the flavor differences are subtle, so either works.
Recipe
- 1 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
- 2½ cups whole grain polenta or grits
- 6 cups water, divided
- 2 teaspoons kosher-style sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
Cook the sausage in a heavy skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until it just begins to brown, breaking it up with a spatula as it cooks. Add 2 cups of water, let it come to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for another 5 minutes or so.
Add the rest of the water to cornmeal in a large pot, add the salt and pepper, and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, add the water and sausage from the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, for 45 minutes.
Cut a piece of parchment paper so that it covers the bottom and sides of a standard 8-inch loaf pan (it makes it easier to get the firm scrapple out). Spoon the cooked cornmeal mixture into the pan, packing it in and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, then either lift the set scrapple out of the pan or invert it onto a cutting board. Cut slices about ½-inch thick and slowly fry in a tiny splash of olive oil on low until brown on both sides, about 15-20 minutes per side.