Sage Sausage Bites with Strawberry-Apricot Balsamic Dipping Sauce

We made these tasty morsels for the Super Bowl a few weeks ago and they disappeared before the second quarter; so we thought this just might be something we share. Think hearty sage sausage browned in the oven and dipped in a sweet, fruity, spicy mustard sauce. The recipe idea came from Rachel Ray from the Food Network but, of course, we had to give it our Olive This! twist. Take note, this recipe makes more than enough dipping sauce for these sausage bites so you may want to adjust accordingly for your crowd (double the sausage bites or reduce the dipping sauce ingredients proportionally). We made the recipe “as is” and used the extra sauce for other dipping items on the table. The carrot sticks, zucchini, celery and cauliflower from a nearby veggie platter somehow found their way to this sweet, flavorful mustard sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Olive This! Single Varietal Olive Oil, plus additional for brushing the bake pan
• ¼ cup Olive This! Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar
• ¾ cup apricot preserves
• 1/3 cup spicy brown mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 pound sage flavored sausage
• ½ cup Italian bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Sauté chopped red onions for about 1-2 minutes until onions start to soften. Add the ¼ cup of balsamic and reduce by half, about 90 seconds.

Remove balsamic-onion mixture from heat and combine with the 1/3 cup spicy brown mustard and ¾ cup apricot preserves.

Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and stir until well combined.

Place the 1 pound of sausage into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the dipping sauce directly into the sausage and mix well.

Form sausage into bite-sized balls and fully coat in the Italian bread crumbs.

Place the sausage bites onto a bake pan lightly brushed with the olive oil.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes until evenly brown. Turn sausage bites often while baking to achieve a uniform browning.

Drain sausage bites on a paper towel and serve with toothpicks and dipping sauce.

SERVES 8 (ABOUT 20-24 PIECES)

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