Last nights dinner was a major home run.
It happened….. Taylor will have multiple Thanksgiving feasts this year, and last night was number one. He could not be happier.
Baked apples with a savory stuffing. These puppies taste just like a bite right off of your Thanksgiving plate. When you get a little of everything on your fork (turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, the works!)
However, these tasty guys do not have turkey or potatoes. Instead they are stuffed with Italian sausage, onions, celery, bread crumbs, and walnuts. And they are stuffed into some very sweet Sister of Fortune apples.
When everything is cooking in the oven your house will smell like heaven. We are hooked on stuffed apples and you can definitely change the recipe up to your liking. Enjoy these as an appetizer or a full meal. And if you are like us, you will tease your taste buds until Turkey day finally arrives!
Ingredients:
4 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, chopped
4 Italian sausages, removed from casings
1/4 cup crushed walnuts
6 sage leaves, chopped
leaves from 2-3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
6 apples (Mine were pretty big)
Parsley for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tbs of the butter and the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery. Cook stirring often until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage to the pan and mix until the meat is broken up and no longer pink. Add the herbs, bread crumbs, nuts and cheese. Mix well.
Cut off the top third of each apple. Using a small spoon scrape out the center removing the core and the seeds, and just enough of the flesh to make a nice hollow for the stuffing. (Be sure not to overly scrape out the apple, otherwise they will fall apart in the oven!) Fill each apple with the stuffing and put a small dot of the remaining butter on each apple.
Bake the apples until the flesh is tender and the stuffing is golden brown. About 45 minutes to an hour. Garnish with parsley and serve. We enjoyed our apples with a side of sauteed brussels sprouts. A great combination with the apples! Enjoy
Ready to try these as my mouth is watering just from reading the post. Sister of Fortune was a variety new to me until i visited the farm. Those apples are so delicious. This meal screams fall.
I think you have a box of sister of fortune in the mail!!! when they arrive make this dish!!!
That sounds & looks so good! I wonder if I can use turkey in the recipe? I don’t eat pork. Any ideas to substitute the sausage? I so want to try this! I’ve never heard of Sister of Fortune apples – I’ll have to look for them. YUM
Ground turkey would be wonderful in this dish! Try it out and let me know! I think if you use turkey spice it up a bit with some crushed red pepper! Yum! Sister of Fortune apples are only at the farm. But any other big crisp apple would be great. Gala, honey crisp, ect..
This sounds wonderful …can’t wait to give it a shot ! Did you use cubed bread,fresh or dry breadcrumbs or a combo. of both? I love anything served stuffed.It makes for such a beautiful presentation and a delightful melding of flavors. Can’t wait to impress my family with this one!
Leese,
I used dry breadcrumbs, but fresh bread pulsed in a food processor would work just fine. The cubes would be too big for this dish. Let me know how it turns out! it was SO good. Make sure to check it a few times in the oven. Oven times vary!
This is a winner of a recipe. Breakfast at my house never tasted so good as it does today! 🙂
So happy you tried this! It is definitely one of our go-to dinners these days!
Oh my goodness! My mouth is salivating!! I’ve never heard of Sister of Fortune apples before. Will have to look for them. I rarely ever get to go to a Farmer’s Market, so I have to deal with what I can get at the local super market—not a lot to choose from there. But whenever I get the chance, I gotta get some of those apples. They sound delish, and so does this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
This recipe looks fabulous! I am starting to plan my Christmas menu, and am curious if this could be made in a crockpot. Any advice you could give would be appreciated.
Thank you!