Bacon-Wrapped and Stuffed Breakfast Sausage Fatty

By
Gene Gerrard
Gene Gerrard
Gene Gerrard
Los Angeles food writer and personal chef Gene Gerrard shares his years of cooking experience and expertise by leading cooking demos at culinary expos.
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Updated on 01/25/23
Bacon-wrapped sausage-stuffed fatty

Michelle Furbacher

Prep: 45 mins
Cook: 3 hrs
Total: 3 hrs 45 mins
Servings: 6 servings

Famous food blogger Jeff Phillips cooks almost everything in a smoker, and in his critically acclaimed cookbook, Smoking Meat, he creates an incredible breakfast recipe. The "fatty" is breakfast sausage rolled with pepper Jack, jalapeño, and spinach, then wrapped in a woven exterior of bacon. This delicious concoction is smoked at a low temperature, but you could also try it in a low-heated oven. Serve the "fatty" with eggs or put a slice on top of a burger. 

Reprinted from "Smoking Meat" by Jeff Phillips, photography by Michelle Furbacher, Whitecap Books © 2012 with permission of the publisher.

Ingredients

  • 13 strips thin sliced bacon

  • 1 pound ground sausage, hot or sweet

  • 1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

  • 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

  • 8 to 10 baby spinach leaves

Steps to Make It

  1. Lay 7 strips of the bacon in a horizontal fashion on an 18 x 18-inch piece of waxed paper. Remove strips 2, 4, and 6. Lay a single strip of bacon along the edge, across rows 1, 3, 5, and 7. This is column 1. Replace rows 2, 4, and 6 on top of column 1.

  2. Fold back rows 1, 3, 5, and 7, and lay the second column of bacon right beside the column 1 and across rows 2, 4, and 6. Replace rows 1, 3, 5, and 7 across column 2.

  3. Continue this pattern of weaving until you have completed a 7 x 6 bacon weave.

  4. Place the sausage into a 1-gallon zip-close bag. Zip the top of the bag, then snip a bit off of the 2 bottom corners to let air escape. Using a rolling pin, flatten the sausage evenly so you have a perfectly formed square. Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut the bag, leaving the sausage square on the bottom.

  5. Flip the sausage square onto an 18 x 18-inch piece of waxed paper. Remove the plastic. Layer the top of the sausage with the pepper Jack, jalapeño, cheddar, and spinach leaves.

  6. Roll the sausage up, with the filling inside, using the waxed paper as a guide. Once the sausage is completely rolled up, place the roll along the bottom row of the bacon weave, centering it. Use the waxed paper that the bacon weave is lying on to help you roll the bacon around the stuffed sausage roll. Leave the fatty on the counter while you set up your smoker.

  7. Prepare your smoker for cooking at 225 F to 240 F. If you are using a gas, electric or a charcoal smoker, be sure to have enough wood chips (hickory, cherry, or pecan) or chunks to produce smoke for about 2 hours. Once the smoker is ready, carefully place the fatty directly on the smoker grate with the seam of the bacon weave facing down.

  8. Smoke the fatty for 3 hours. Once it is done cooking, remove it from the smoker grate and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing it into 1/2-inch medallions.

  9. Serve the fatty slices with eggs or on a burger or sandwich. Fatties even taste great on a plain piece of bread with a little barbecue sauce drizzled over the top.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
444 Calories
36g Fat
3g Carbs
28g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 444
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 36g 46%
Saturated Fat 13g 67%
Cholesterol 108mg 36%
Sodium 1171mg 51%
Total Carbohydrate 3g 1%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 28g
Vitamin C 7mg 37%
Calcium 171mg 13%
Iron 2mg 10%
Potassium 502mg 11%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)