Description
A Thanksgiving themed Fatty – Cornbread stuffing & cranberries wrapped in sage seasoned sausage then wrapped in a bacon weave and cooked on the smoker.
Ingredients
1 lb. sausage
1 pack bacon (16 slices)
6 oz. boxed cornbread stuffing
1/4-1/2 cup dried cranberries (optional)
1/2 tbsp ground sage
bbq rub
plastic wrap (comes in handy)
Instructions
Make cornbread stuffing according to package instructions. Mix in dried cranberries. Set aside.
Lay out a piece of plastic wrap (big enough to roll out your sausage on) and then add the sausage on top. Lay out another piece of plastic wrap of the same size and put it on top of sausage.
Use a rolling pin (or similar) and roll out the sausage until it’s flat in a rectangular shape. If necessary, cut the sides to make sure it’s a rectangle (you can add the cut sausage back into the middle and re-roll.)
Once you’ve got your sausage rolled out, season it with the ground sage and then put it on something sturdy (a baking sheet or cutting board) and set it aside in the fridge for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, take out the sausage and remove the top piece of plastic wrap. Put your cornbread stuffing mixture in the middle, leaving about 1/2″ of sausage uncovered on all sides.
Use the bottom piece of plastic wrap to lift the edges of the sausage together, until your sausage is completely wrapped around the cornbread stuffing mixture. Take your time here — you want to make sure the cornbread stuffing is completely covered in sausage so it doesn’t come out while cooking.
You should end up with basically a “loaf” of sausage stuffed with the cornbread stuffing. Use plastic wrap to tightly wrap it up, twisting the sides until your fatty is compact and tightly wrapped. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes.
While the fatty is in the fridge, make your bacon weave. This is easiest if you do it on a piece of plastic wrap to help wrap it later on (similar to how we wrapped the sausage). To make your bacon weave, lay out pieces of bacon (half a pack) in a row and then weave more bacon pieces through those like a weave. To do this, take your piece of bacon and go over and under the lined up slices of bacon every other time.
Once your bacon weave is done (and your fatty has been in the fridge for about 20 minutes), lay your fatty down on top of the bacon weave. Use the plastic wrap to help wrap the bacon around the sausage. Tuck in the sides. You want to make sure it’s completely wrapped. You may need to pull the bacon and stretch it out–this is okay. Just do whatever you need to get the bacon completely around the fatty.
Roll up again in plastic wrap tightly. It’s helpful if you twist the sides tightly (this will make your fatty look more condensed and plump). I like to put it in the fridge for another 20 minutes (or even overnight) but you don’t have to. (I just think it makes it easier to handle.)
Once you’re ready to cook, get your smoker set to 250 degrees (or heat your oven to 350 degrees).
Season the fatty with your favorite BBQ seasoning. I used Bad Byron’s Butt Rub but this would be great with whatever you like!
Cook in the smoker at 250 degrees until it hits 165 internal and the bacon is crispy to your liking. (This will take about two hours) If the bacon is not crispy to your liking, you can raise the temperature at the end to crisp this up more or even finish it under your oven’s broiler.
If you’re cooking in the oven, cook for about 30 minutes to an hour until the internal temp is 165 degrees. You can turn on the broiler or raise the temperature to 400 degrees to get the bacon crispier if desired.
Notes
*If you don’t like cranberries, simply omit.
If you can find sage sausage, you can use that instead of seasoning the sausage yourself.
- Category: Thanksgiving
- Method: Smoker
Keywords: thanksgiving recipes, smoker recipes, bbq fatty