Mele e Cottechino (Apples and Pork Sausage)

Recipe from Jody Williams

Adapted by Charlotte Druckman

Mele e Cottechino (Apples and Pork Sausage)
Frances Janisch
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(19)
Comments
Read comments

Going out on New Year’s Eve has always been, according to my parents, for amateurs. Their long-standing alternative: stay home and eat well. The ritual starts with caviar and Champagne. Then Dad might prepare steak tartare and Mom, a chocolate soufflé. Good stuff.

Now, all grown up (and then some), I realize they’re on to something. A low-key, intimate gathering starring good food is my preferred way to ring in the new. But in these lean times — and in my significantly smaller kitchen — putting out a succulent spread and entertaining the troops chez moi calls for some creativity. —Charlotte Druckman

Featured in: New Year’s Ease | Cooking at Home with Gottino’s Jody Williams

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 6 to 7.
  • 12-14 lady apples (or any small apples; otherwise you can split 6 or 7 medium apples in half)
  • Cottechino sausage or fatty, spicy Italian sausage, removed from its casing (enough to fill apples; less than ½ of a large link)
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly cracked pepper
  • 4tablespoons butter
  • 12-14 sage leaves (about one per apple)
  • ½ to ¾bottle of white wine.
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (7 servings)

344 calories; 11 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 36 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 1005 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  2. Step 2

    Scoop the core and seeds out of each apple, leaving a substantial hole for filling. Fit the hollowed apples into the base of an ovenproof skillet.

  3. Step 3

    Fill apples with enough sausage to overflow and have a small mound of meat atop each. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

  4. Step 4

    Place knobs of butter in the small spaces between the apples. Tuck sage leaves into remaining gaps.

  5. Step 5

    Pour enough wine into pan to cover apples (the sausage tops can peek out above the liquid’s surface).

  6. Step 6

    Place pan in oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until apples can easily be pierced with a knife.

  7. Step 7

    Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Tip
  • Specialty ingredients can be found at Buon Italia at the Chelsea Market, or any other gourmet Italian food purveyor

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Ratings

4 out of 5
19 user ratings
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Comments

Shelley

I think that this called for the teeny apples that are used in cornucopia? I used early season pink lady apples cut in 8ths (cut in quaraters and cut the quarters in half). Used chorizo bulk sausage 'cause that is what I had, made into little balls and garnished them with a sage leaf to look like a tiny apple that sat on an apple. filled up with wine for 3/4 inch. It was tasty and silly and a lovely part of a plague cocktail hour.

Shelley

I think that this called for the teeny apples that are used in cornucopia? I used early season pink lady apples cut in 8ths (cut in quaraters and cut the quarters in half). Used chorizo bulk sausage 'cause that is what I had, made into little balls and garnished them with a sage leaf to look like a tiny apple that sat on an apple. filled up with wine for 3/4 inch. It was tasty and silly and a lovely part of a plague cocktail hour.

Dennis

I like the unusualness and the simplicity, but this is perplexing. 12 apples wouldn’t fit into any but my outdoor paella skillet, unless unusually small. A half a large link doesn’t seem like it would fill many apples with a hole of any size (and what tool?). And spherical fruit wouldn’t leave “small spaces” between the apples for butter knobs. Too bad there’s no picture with something to give scale. I look forward to comments. Heating the wine seems like it would speed cooking a lot.

Joyce

You can see a picture of the dish if you click on the featured article under the blurb above: Featured in: New Year’s Ease | Cooking At Home With Gottino’s Jody Williams. Link: https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/new-years-ease-cooking-at-home-with-gottinos-jody-williams/

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Credits

Recipes from Jody Williams at Gottino.

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