Sausage Stuffed Beets

After thinking about this for a while, I decided that one way to ease the flavor of beets was to infuse some other flavor into the beets. And the way I came up with to do that is to stuff some kind of meat in the beets and braise them slowly so that the juice from meat will infuse the beets. I think any kind of ground meat would work but I used Italian sausage this time because it has such a distinctive flavor and aroma. I mixed the meat with other flavors, vegetables like shallots and garlic, and stuffed them into the prepared beets.

The result was exactly what I was looking for. The flavor of the beets was more subtle, hidden just behind the umami that bursted from the sausage juice. The sweetness of the beets also tempered the sausage and their marriage was successful.

My husband who is a long-time beet-hater ate them and said he actually liked them. Not merely edible, but actually a new taste he actually liked.

I am very pleased with the result.

Here is the recipe.

Sausage Stuffed Beets

Yield 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a main course

Ingredients

2 links mild Italian sausage ..... remove the meat from the casing
1 clove of garlic ..... minced
1 shallot ..... minced
1/8 red pepper ..... diced
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup panko or bread crumb
salt and pepper
4 medium beets ..... pealed
2-3 cups chicken stock
Heavy cream
Chives

Method

1. Cut the stem and bottom of the beets. Use a melon baller to remove the stem and core to make a cup.

2. Mix all other ingredients except the heavy cream and chives in a bowl.

3. Stuff the sausage mixture into each beet cup and pile more on the top.

4. Make small meat balls with the leftover sausage mixture.

5. Put the stuffed beets and sausage balls in a small sauce pan and pour chicken stock until it just covers the beets but not the sausage on the top.

6. Bring to a boil on medium heat then turn the heat to low and simmer with a cover for 50-60 minutes until the beets are tender. Pour the stock over the beets 2 or 3 times while they are cooking.

7. Plate the stuffed beets and meat balls in a shallow bowl and gently pour some of the soup around it. Drop a small amount of heavy cream in the soup. Sprinkle the chives on top of the beets as a garnish.