Simple Savory & Satisfying: Savory Baked Apples Stuffed with Sage and Sausage

Friday, November 1, 2013

Savory Baked Apples Stuffed with Sage and Sausage

I've been dying to do a savory apple recipe. When I told Eric that I planned to make apples stuffed with sausage, he was less than excited. I should have taken a picture of the face he made. But I wasn't going to let that deter me. And I'm glad I didn't. These turned out fabulous. I fell in love with them at first bite. It took Eric a couple more bites to come around. After the first bite, he said it was different. And it did have a different palate than what we're used to. But he finished every last bite of the stuffed apples and then declared that they were good. I honestly can't wait to make them again.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons yellow onion, minced
1/2 pound spicy pork sausage
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt
pepper
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I made my own by toasting a couple pieces of white bread and crumbling them)
4 to 5 apples (I used Fuji)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sausage to skillet. Break the meat up and cook until it's no longer pink, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the sage and thyme. Season with salt and peeper. Stir in breadcrumbs and remove from heat.

Cut off the tops of each apple. Scoop out the insides of the apple including the core, seeds, and flesh. I used a regular spoon, though a melon baller probably would have made it easier. Discard the insides.

Divide the stuffing among the apples, packing each apple full. Place the apples in the baking dish. Dot each apple with a small dab of the remaining butter.

Bake apples until the flesh is tender, 45 to 60 minutes.