Apple-Sausage Gravy Boats

Step outside the box and style up your sausage gravy with a bit of sweet apple flavor and serve in a crusty French bread boat. But if you still prefer biscuits with sausage gravy, just try a new gravy flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) loaf French bread
• 1 (16 ounce) package bulk pork breakfast sausage (such as Jimmy Dean®)
• 1 small apple - peeled, cored, and finely chopped
• 0.3333333333333333 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk, or more to taste
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Steps

1. Cut bread into six 4-inch pieces. Hollow out an oval shape in the top of each piece; scoop out some of the bread inside with your fingers or a spoon and discard. Set bread "boats" aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and apple. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until crumbly and no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the sausage mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until it has been absorbed by the fat, about 3 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and gradually pour in 2 cups milk and apple juice; bring to a simmer. Stir and simmer until gravy thickens, 5 to 7 minutes. If gravy is too thick, add more milk to thin it out to your desired consistency. Stir in Dijon and season with salt and pepper.
4. Ladle the sausage gravy into the bread boats, allowing some to spill over the sides.