REC: Sausage-Stuffed French Loaves
You may want to spice this mixture up a bit.
Sausage-Stuffed French Loaves
If you can’t find French loaves, long Italian ones will work fine. A plus is that they are often wider than French loaves.
2 fat, long loaves of French bread
8 ounces bulk pork sausage
8 ounces ground beef chuck
1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
1 egg
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Cut the ends of the loaves and set aside. Hollow out the loaves with your fingers or with the aid of a long serrated knife. Place the soft bread interior in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse on and off to make coarse crumbs.
3. Brown the sausage in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the beef and onion, then cook until the beef is lightly browned.
4. Combine the bread crumbs, meat mixture, egg, mustard, parsley, fennel salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spoon the mixture into the bread shells; reattach the bread ends with small skewers.
5. Melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds, then brush the loaves with this garlic butter. Wrap loaves in separate pieces of aluminum foil, leaving the foil slightly opened at the top.
6. Bake until heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. To serve, cut loaves into 1-inch slices.
Makes about 36 pieces. Per serving: 100 calories, 14g carbohydrate, 5g protein, 3g fat, 15mg cholesterol.
