Oven-baked bread blood sausages: crisp outside, soft inside, scented with marjoram

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Cook the pork belly

   1 hr

   Cover the pork belly with 1.5 l water, add 1 tsp salt, and simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, until tender. Reserve the broth.

2. Soak the bread rolls

   10 min

   Cut the rolls into cubes, place in a bowl, and pour about 500 ml hot broth over them. Let them soak up the broth.

3. Prepare the meat and onions

   15 min

   Finely dice or grind the pork belly. Finely chop the onions and sauté in 2 tbsp lard until golden.

4. Mix the filling

   10 min

   Add the pork belly, onions with their cooking fat, blood, crushed garlic, marjoram, black pepper, allspice, and remaining salt to the soaked rolls. Mix thoroughly; the filling should be sticky, like a thick porridge.

5. Stuff the casings

   30 min

   Rinse the casings with lukewarm water. Secure one end with a wooden skewer, then pour in the filling through a wide-necked funnel, filling the casings loosely rather than tightly. Secure with wooden skewers every 20–25 cm to make about 12 sausages.

6. Poach the sausages

   20 min

   Place the sausages in a pot of water heated to 80–85°C (176–185°F) and poach for 10–15 minutes, until the juices run clear rather than bloody when pierced with a needle. Do not let the water boil, or the casings will burst. Remove the sausages and let them dry.

7. Bake the sausages

   25 min

   Arrange the sausages on a greased baking sheet, brush with the remaining melted lard, and bake in an oven preheated to 190°C (375°F) for about 25 minutes, until crisp on top.

Tip: Keep the fresh blood refrigerated until you mix the filling, and stir it before using. If a sausage bursts during poaching, the water is too hot; add cold water. Read more: Lard in the kitchen: baking and frying

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Žemľové krvavničky z rúry: navrchu chrumkajú, vnútri ostanú mäkké a voňajú majoránom