When I was asked if I wanted to try the new Clonakilty Ispini Sausages I never would have thought all of these goodies would arrive. Talk about meaty delivery! If like me you though Clonakilty* were just about their famous black pudding, you may be surprised to see how much they have branched out.
From their traditional black pudding to white pudding, bacon rashers, bacon joints and sausages, the newest are these Clonakilty Ispini Sausages. Made using 100% Irish Pork they are apparently the perfect allrounder. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, BBQ, these sausages have got you covered. The rashers do come in four different cures, Oak Smoked, Dry Cured, Mild Cured and Smoked and are hand rubbed with a traditional Clonakilty Salt Recipe, and slowly matured.
So far I can only see the Clonakility range on Ocado and the Ispini Sausages come in at £2.90 for 16 and the dry cured rashers are £2.99 for 6. These sausages are a little thicker than chipolata’s which I like, to cook you can grill, oven, fry, George Forman, pretty much cook them however you like aside from microwaving.
The percentage of meat is lower than what I would normally choose in a sausage and comes in at 62% Irish pork. The rest is made up of “Water, Pork Fat, Rusk (wheat), Salt, Preservative (Sodium Sulphite), Dextrose, Flavour Enhancer (Monosodium Glutamate), Spice Extracts, Antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate), Colour Carmine, Beef Collagen Casings”.
Per sausage: 95 kcal, 2.7g sat fat, <0.5g sugar, 2.8g protein
Thinking what quick meal could be rustled up using some of these ingredients there was only one thing for it. Mac and Cheese. Mac and Cheese is a favourite in our house and as you can see we add sausage, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes. Honestly if you haven’t added this before do it and thank me later!
Per back rasher: 89 kcal, 1.9g sat fat, <0.5g sugar, 5.5g protein
After oven baking the sausages, frying off the bacon and mushrooms, making a cheesey cheese sauce and cook the macaroni, throw it all in an oven proof dish, pop it in the oven and hey presto 30 mins later we have one delicious mac and cheese.
First off the bacon was really tasty. I am not really a bacon fan but this wasn’t too salty, had a lovely flavour to it and hadn’t gone dry and chewy as some can when baked. In our house we are pretty set on our sausages and very few match up. The Ispini Sausages were quite mild in flavour and not overly porky as some can be. The texture was slightly firm and they held their own making them a great addition to this dish.
For my first taste test of the Clonakilty range it is a thumbs up. The Clonakilty Ispini Sausages are perfect if you aren’t someone who loves a really porky sausage. They are a nice sausage that you could pretty much do anything with and add any flavour you want whether it be a casserole, mac and cheese, or a good old fry up. I am on the fence about being standalone in a sausage sandwich, for that I think you need a bit more oomph.
Nibbles ‘n’ Scribbles x
*These were sent to me by Storm Communications and Clonakilty in exchange for a review. All options are my own
Thirty something blogging since 2014. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Please feel free to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you all.
