Sausage & Apples

Green apples get cored, packed with a garlicky ground sausage filling, crowned with bacon, and baked until the fruit collapses into sweet, tangy flesh around the savory meat center. It’s a dish that straddles the line between dinner and something you’d eat at a harvest festival.

The brown sugar sprinkled over the top melts with the bacon fat during baking and creates a sticky, caramelized glaze that pools around the base of each apple. Sweet, salty, smoky, all in one bite.

Green apples are the right call here. Their tartness holds up against the rich sausage and brown sugar instead of turning into a one-note sugar bomb.

Chef Tips

• Core the apples wide enough to hold a generous amount of sausage filling, but don’t punch all the way through the bottom or the juices leak out.
• Saute the sausage, garlic, and onion until fully cooked before stuffing. Raw sausage won’t finish cooking inside the apple in time.
• Choose firm apples like Granny Smith that hold their shape during the 40-minute bake. Soft varieties dissolve into mush.
• Baste the apples with the pan juices halfway through for extra flavor and a glossier finish.

Variations

• Use maple-flavored breakfast sausage for an even sweeter, more autumnal pairing.
• Add a pinch of sage to the sausage filling for a classic pork-and-sage combination.
• Serve with a drizzle of warm apple cider reduction for a saucy, fall-themed plate.