AIP Sage and Apple Breakfast Sausage

Sage has got to be, hands down, one of my favorite flavors. I love how it gives everything a homey herbaceous vibe that makes everything taste like it was made with time and care. I find that the meat will make or break a sausage recipe; Ground pork can either be succulent, or gristly and greasy, which can be downright disappointing. I have a small local farm that I buy pork from regularly so I know what I'm going to get. My suggestion is if you're unfamiliar with your ground pork, or if it's overly greasy to use a blend of pork and chicken or turkey breast (which to me are both notoriously dry, but I will sometimes leverage that quality to shift texture in my favor)

A note on pork, and meat in general- buy the best meat you can, and at the very least the fattier cuts. Animals, just like humans, tend to store toxins, heavy metals, etc in fatty tissues; so it's best to limit that wherever you can, that means eating leaner proteins, or choosing higher quality meat when it is available. Same goes for bones, this is one area where if you don't have access to high quality, it may be best to limit consumption. This recipe also works well with a blend of chicken and turkey if you do not have good quality ground pork available.

Annnnyway….back to “how the sausage is made!” Aside from sage, I love the addition of minced shallot for it's subtle onion flavor and shredded apple, for it's sweetness, moisture and bulk. Shredding apple can be seriously messy, sticky drops of apple juice everywhere and the apples seem to brown instantly. As someone who almost compulsively overbuys apples I've learned that you can just throw them in the freezer whole when they start to turn south and shred them straight from the freezer. No mess, plus it makes it easier to use up those soft apples.

Ingredients

2 lbs ground pork (or combo of your choice)

1 medium apple, shredded

1 medium shallot, minced

1 tbsp rubbed sage

2 tbsp maple sugar or 1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp umami mushroom powder *optional

Method

Combine the dry seasonings in a small bowl. I love to make this seasoning blend in larger quantities and sprinkle it on sweet potatoes, winter squash or even use it to make candied bacon. Maple sugar is a great thing to have on hand when you want concentrated maple flavor and sweetness without the moisture using syrup would add, but if pure maple syrup is all you have it works perfectly here.

In a large mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients (meat, shallot, apple and *maple syrup) and sprinkle the dry ingredients over the top and work them in. I love to use my KitchenAid for this. You can accomplish an even distribution quickly without overworking the meat and making it tough. Excellent for meatloaf too!

Cook in a skillet as sausage crumbles, or make patties or even meatballs to batch cook in the oven. Delicious combo with sweet potato or root veggie hash for a perfect egg-free breakfast and an excellent choice for meal-prepping.

Let the mixer do the dirty work for you!

**While two pounds of meat may seem excessive, I have a hard time getting any of them to the fridge in my house and will often double this recipe in order to have any leftover for the weeks breakfasts.

Makes approximately 20 meatballs with a 1/4 cup measure.