Baked Stuffed Apples

I had intended this as a side dish but it actually came out as the star of the dinner plate.  A perfectly balanced recipe between savory and sweet, it would lend itself well as a hearty accompaniment to any variety of entrees, like roasted meat or poultry and might be a more flavorful and visually arresting alternative to potatoes.  I did very little tweaking to the inspiration for this dish, from an offbeat cooking blog called sweetandmasala.com, except I cut back on the proportions.  I ended up with enough filling for 5 to 6 apples, even though on this occasion I prepared only four.

You'll want to pick apples that are better suited to baking, like Granny Smith if you prefer a tart apple, or Honey Crisp if you like something sweeter, which is what I used and recommend. You could use other varieties of apples that are suited to baking, such as Rome, Pink Lady or Braeburn.  The allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon in the filling mixture make this a quintessential fall recipe; the aroma is reminiscent of a Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients
4 baking apples (like, Honey Crisp), reserving half of the pulp
1 lb mild Italian sausage
1 medium yellow or sweet onion, finely diced
2 tsp garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup sun-dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1 tsp dried powdered thyme
1 tbsp butter
juice of one fresh lemon
1-2 cups no sugar added apple juice (like, Mott's)

The Recipe
Cut off the top of the apple just below the stem. Using a melon-baller, scoop out the pulp of the apple. Start by burrowing down and removing the apple core. Then, work your way around the outer edges of the apple. Being careful not to pierce through to the outside of the apple, scoop out the inside to within 1/8" of the peel. Discard the core and reserve 1/2 of the apple pulp. Sprinkle the inside of the apple with the fresh lemon juice to keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. Kept covered in the refrigerator, this step can be done a day ahead of time.  Bring them out of the refrigerator an hour before using, allowing them to come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sauté the Italian sausage until crumbled and cooked in a skillet over medium high heat.  Remove to a platter.

Melt the butter over medium heat, and then sauté the onion until it picks up a little color, about ten minutes.  Dice the reserved apple pulp, and add to the onion. Sauté for a minute and add the garlic, cranberries and pecans. Sauté for another couple of minutes and then add the sausage back to the skillet.

Sprinkle in the allspice, salt, pepper and pepper flakes, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, rosemary and thyme.  Stir well to combine all the seasonings and allow the dish to simmer for a minute or two until it becomes aromatic.  Remove the skillet from the heat and allow to cool for fifteen minutes or so. This step can also be done a day ahead of time.  Refrigerate the filling mixture in a covered container and when ready to use, microwave it for 2-1/2 minutes to warm it up before proceeding to the next step.

Pack each apple with the filling mixture and then place them in a shallow baking dish.  Pour enough apple juice into the baking dish to cover the bottoms of the apple up to an inch or so.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 minutes and serve immediately.