Fall has officially arrived. The air is crisp, the humidity has broken, and apples are everywhere. When I was at the farmer’s market yesterday, I noticed a lot of people placing their turkey orders for Thanksgiving.
I came up with these rounds last year near the end of fall, before this blog existed, and made them all through the winter. If you live in Canada, you know apples are one of the few local fruits that stay crunchy and sweet all through the cold months of the year. Plus, I’m preparing you right now for the surplus of post-Thanksgiving ground turkey you’ll see in a couple of weeks, when butchers and farmers are selling off their last bits.
If you’re wondering, I just tested it with chicken, and that totally works, too, if it’s more your speed.
You can eat these plain, top them with smashed avocado, or serve them over wilted greens. I bet they would also make for great sliders wrapped in lettuce or your favourite bun option. Of course, there’s always the classic brunch pairing of eggs and sausage, perhaps with a few sweet potatoes, too.
Another perk? The ingredients list is super-short and you probably have most of the items already. I like to keep some ground meat in my freezer at all times so I can just stick it in the fridge the day before to defrost, and it’s ready to cook when I get home. Other than that, if you’re avoiding soy, I highly recommend keeping a bottle of coconut aminos (I buy this one) in the fridge. It’s a great umami-rich condiment that amps up the flavour in plenty of dishes. Otherwise, you can use a splash of soy sauce.
Turkey-apple sausage rounds
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Course: Main Course
Keyword: AIP, apples, autoimmune paleo, butternut squash, egg-free, fall, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, turkey, whole 30
Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
½ onion finely diced
½ green apple peeled and finely diced
¾ tsp salt
1½ tsp thyme
1½ tsp rosemary
1 Tb coconut aminos
1 Tb bacon fat or other stable fat for cooking
Instructions
Combine all ingredients except the bacon fat.
Lay out a piece of parchment or wax paper.
Form mixture into golf ball-sized balls and lay out on the paper. Flatten them gently with your fingers or the back of a spoon. The recipe will make about 15.
Heat the fat in a large skillet over medium heat.
Once it sputters when water droplets hit the pan (careful!), lay out the rounds. You will probably need to do this in two batches.
Cook 5-7 minutes, until the bottom is brown and you can see the sides getting nicely cooked, and then flip and cook for another 5-7 minutes, until the internal temperature is 165F. If you don’t have a thermometer, just cut one in half to make sure there’s no pink inside.
Serve on its own, over greens, paired with your favourite veggies, alongside eggs… the possibilities!