Recipe: Sausage Stuffed Apples

[GLC1968]

These are unique and make a great breakfast when one is paleo and gets tired of eggs all the time.

***Photo of the final product goes here (I'll add it in later)***

SAUSAGE-STUFFED APPLES

Ingredients
6 Granny Smith Apples – (I used Pink Lady with good results and I ended up with enough filling for 7)
1 T Coconut Oil or clarified butter
1 lb Pork Sausage (I used sage seasoned breakfast sausage that I bought in bulk)
1 Egg
1/2 Onion
1 Medium Carrot
1 Celery stalk
1/4 c Pecans, chopped
1/4 c Chopped Dates
1/4 t Black Pepper
1/4 t Cinnamon

Instructions
Carefully cut out the core of the apples and create a nice little cavity for the stuffing. Leave at least 1/2″ of flesh all around.

***Two photos showing how to carve out apple shown here (coming later!)***

Grate the onion, carrot, and celery in a food processor, or at least dice them all really fine. Set aside.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat and brown the sausage. Remove to a mixing bowl, reserving the grease in the pan. Add the veggies to the drippings and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add veggies to ground sausage along with the pecans, dates, pepper, egg, and cinnamon.

Fill the apples with the sausage stuffing and arrange in a baking dish. Sprinkle the tops with a little more cinnamon if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, until heated through.

OK, I still can't get my usual photo service to load so in lieu of photos, here's a link to the original blog where I stole the recipe! http://tgipaleo.com/2012/04/15/sausage-stuffed-apples/

I cut my apples slightly differently so I think I was able to fit more stuffing in each one.