Equipment
Ingredients
Meat
- 450 g thick pork sausages, whole
Produce
- 600 g butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 300 g granny smith apples, cored and sliced into wedges
- 150 g red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 5 g fresh sage, roughly chopped
Pantry
- 30 ml olive oil
- 5 g kosher salt
- 2 g black pepper, freshly cracked
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 559 kcal
- Protein
- 23 g
- Carbohydrates
- 34 g
- Fat
- 39 g
- Fiber
- 6 g
- Sugar
- 14 g
- Sodium
- 1409 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 11 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 18 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 7 g
- Cholesterol
- 97 mg
- Potassium
- 1067 mg
- Calcium
- 117 mg
- Iron
- 3.0 mg
- Magnesium
- 82 mg
- Phosphorus
- 237 mg
- Zinc
- 3.2 mg
- Vitamin A
- 832 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 38 mg
- Vitamin D
- 1.6 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 4.4 mg
- Vitamin K
- 9 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.5 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 1.1 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.48 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.27 mg
- Niacin
- 8.8 mg
- Folate
- 51 mcg
- Water
- 283 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Place the large baking sheet inside the oven as it preheats to help sear the vegetables upon contact.
Using a chef knife and cutting board, peel, seed, and dice the butternut squash into even 2.5 centimeter pieces to ensure uniform cooking.
Core the granny smith apples and cut them into thick wedges. Peel and cut the red onion into wedges of a similar size.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the diced squash, apple wedges, and onion with olive oil, chopped fresh sage, kosher salt, and black pepper until completely and evenly coated.
Carefully remove the hot baking sheet from the oven. Spread the vegetable and apple mixture evenly across the pan. Using tongs, nestle the raw pork sausages among the vegetables. Always wash your hands and any utensils thoroughly after handling raw meat to prevent cross-contamination.
Roast in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Turn the sausages halfway through the cooking time using tongs. The dish is done when the squash is tender and caramelized, and the sausages are fully browned, reaching a safe internal temperature of 74°C/165°F.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the bake rest for 5 minutes. This allows the hot sausage juices to redistribute and settle before serving.
Chef's Notes
- Preheating your baking sheet while the oven comes to temperature is a professional secret for traybakes; the immediate contact heat prevents sticking and jumpstarts caramelization.
- Choose a firm, tart apple variety. Sweet eating apples will turn to applesauce at 200°C, whereas tart apples hold their structure and provide a necessary acidic contrast to the rich pork fat.
- If your sausages are particularly fatty and exude a lot of oil during the first 15 minutes of roasting, carefully drain a spoonful off the pan to prevent the squash from becoming greasy.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Store in an airtight container.
Freezer: 1 month — Squash and apples may become slightly softer upon thawing, but flavor remains excellent.
Reheating: Microwave individual portions for 2 minutes, or reheat in a 175°C/350°F oven for 15 minutes.
Troubleshooting
Apples become mushy and disintegrate during baking
Cause: Using a soft apple variety or cutting the wedges too thin
Fix: Cannot be fixed, but the broken down apples will act as a delicious sweet sauce for the squash and pork
Prevention: Select firm baking apples like Granny Smith or Braeburn and cut them into robust wedges, at least 2.5 centimeters wide
Vegetables are steaming and remaining pale instead of roasting
Cause: Overcrowding the baking pan, trapping moisture
Fix: Carefully drain off excess liquid from the pan and increase the oven temperature by 10°C for the final 10 minutes of cooking
Prevention: Use the largest baking sheet available or divide the ingredients between two pans to allow adequate air circulation
Cultural Context
The combination of pork and apples is a deeply rooted culinary tradition in European and early American farmhouse cooking. Harvesting squash and apples simultaneously in the autumn naturally brought these ingredients together in rustic, economical single-pan meals. This modern traybake honors that agricultural seasonality while streamlining the process for convenient, satisfying weeknight dinners.
