Apple Sausage Stuffing w. Pomegranates

Calling this recipe apple sausage stuffing is a bit misleading at first. It kind of sounds like I put apple sausages into the stuffing. Not that that’s bad – we were over at a friend’s house recently and we tried apple cinnamon sausage for the first time. At first I was thinking “Apples and sausage? Yes. But with cinnamon?? Heck no.” I quickly changed my mind when I took the first bite. It was amazing. And so was the blueberry sausage, which had a very light hint of blueberry. Anyhow, combining apples and sausage is not a new thing – it seems like I’ve tried at least 2 recipes with apples and sausage during past Thanksgiving seasons. They were both delicious but what I didn’t care for was the celery. I’m pretty sure I’m one of five who doesn’t love celery – there’s definitely a place for it but it never seems to take on the flavors of the stuffing when it’s put in stuffing. So I eliminated the classic celery and chose sweeter ingredients like apples, dried berries and my fave, pomegranate seeds. Pumpkin seeds also add an extra crunch that celery lovers may miss. We wolfed down the entire dish and all 8o98 carbs in one evening. But it was delicious and that’s what matters.

APPLE SAUSAGE STUFFING W. POMEGRANATES

INGREDIENTS
1 small onion, chopped
2 T butter
1 garlic clove, minced
2 sweet Italian sausages, cooked (about 1 c chopped)
3 c honey crisp apples, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp herbes de provence

5 c rustic pan (or crusty dry bread)
2 c chicken broth
1/3 c dried berries
1/4 c pumpkin seeds

1/4 c pomegranate arils

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F. In a skillet on medium heat, sauté onion with butter until soft, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add sausage and apples and mix. Cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper and herbes de provence and combine. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine bread, chicken broth, berries and pumpkin seeds. Add in sausage-apple mixture and carefully mix, trying to coat bread with broth.

Butter a 8.5″ x 8.5″ pan and spoon stuffing evenly into pan. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle pomegranate seeds over top. Serve warm.

Thank you to Melissa’s for providing the honey crisp apples.

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