Categories: Apples, Breakfast, Pork

Ingredients

• 2 cups apple cider or 2 cups apple juice
• 6 large well shaped baking apples
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons dried currants
• 1/4 teaspoon crumbled dried sage
• 1/2 lb raw sausage, crumbled (choose a smoky or sage-scented variety)
• fresh sage sprigs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Butter a baking dish big enough to hold the apples upright with up to an inch between them.

3. Pour the cider into a saucepan; reduce by half over high heat.

4. While the cider cooks, scoop out the apple cores, leaving the bottoms intact; **the small end of a melon baller works well for this task.

5. Scoop a hole in each apple just a bit bigger than necessary to remove the core.

6. Slice a thin ribbon of peel from around the top of each apple cavity, which helps keep the peel from splitting while baking.

7. Slice off all fruit remaining on the cores and chop it.

8. Warm the butter in a skillet over medium heat; stir in chopped apple pieces, onion, currant, sage, and sausage; cook until sausage is brown; remove from the heat and cool briefly.

9. Pack equal portions of the mixture into each apple, mounding it over the top a bit if necessary.

10. Pour the reduced apple cider into the dish, drizzling a little over each apple.

11. Cover the apples and place in oven for 30 minutes.

12. Uncover and continue baking for about 15 minutes; until the apples can be pierced easily with a knife but still hold their shape. Arrange apples in small bowls, pouring the pan juices over them; serve warm, garnish with sage sprigs.

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