Baked Sausage Stuffed Apples (with turkey sausage)

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I’ve been eating baked apples since I was a child.  Typically the apples were stuffed with brown sugar, butter and a dusting of cinnamon, but being that pork and apples go so well together I though “hey, why not stuff these apples with savory sausage.”  Not that there’s anything wrong with the buttery, sugary baked apple version.  It is truly a delight, but I wanted something savory that could be served as an entree. 

While pork is the typical partner for pairing with apples,  to be a little healthier I’m using turkey sausage but you can use whatever you prefer.


The filling is super easy as it’s just a handful of ingredients that when combined together give a gorgeous, flavorful and slightly spicy compliment to the sweet baked apple.

Scooping out the seeds, core and interior of the apple gives a spacious cavity to stuff with all that goodness.  When you bake these parcels, the juices begin to run and form a delightful pan sauce that you can spoon over the apples, which by that time are soft and extra sweet from baking. 

I think these will become one of your new weeknight favorites.  Especially tasty in the fall when apple picking season it at its height.  I’m always up for a new way to use the apple harvest abundance. 

STUFFED & READY FOR THE OVEN

Baked Apples Stuffed With Turkey Sausage
Serves 4-6


6-8 apples (I like granny smith or gala)
14 ounces turkey sausage (or regular sausage) (I like the spicy kind, but any kind will do)
1/2 yellow onion
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon Aleppo chili flake (or regular chili flake)
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


In a medium mixing bowl, grated the onion over the turkey sausage with a box grater.  If you don’t have a box grater, just dice the onion as finely as you can.  Add the cheese, Aleppo chili and salt and mix together.  Try not to over mix.


Scoop the stem out of the apple then using a melon baller or sharp pointed spoon (like a grapefruit spoon), scoop the center out of the apple, making a nice well to deposit your filling.  Discard the core and seed portion but keep the rest of the apple interior.   Chop the scooped out portion of the apple finely and mix lightly into the turkey sausage mixture.  


Place the apples into a baking dish and stuff the filling evening into each hollowed out apple.  You can fill between 6 to 8 apples depending on how large your apples are.


Bake at 400 degrees about 30 minutes until the center is cooked through.  Serve and spoon the flavorful pan juices over the apples.