Description
With sweet Italian sausage baked into rosy, golden apples, these Sausage Dressing Stuffed Baked Apples add an elegantly delicious touch to your Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving dinner.
Ingredients
- 8 small Fuji apples
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup finely chopped white onion
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 4 cups small cubed crusty baguette
- ½ cup chicken broth, for moistening
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, for dotting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter.
- Slice the very top off of each apple. Use a spoon or melon baller to carefully scoop out the entire core of the apple. Repeat with each apple. Place the apples, cut side up, in the prepared baking dish.
- Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, and stir together for about a minute, until fragrant. Add the sausage to the skillet and cook thoroughly until browned, making sure to break it up into crumbles.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and bread cubes until well combined. Add the chicken broth and stir until moistened. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spoon stuffing into the apples, filling each one full.
- Once all the apples are stuffed, dot the top of each apple with a little butter.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the apples are softened but not falling apart. If the stuffing starts to brown too much, cover the dish loosely with foil and continue to bake.