These smoked shotgun shells are made with seasoned sausage stuffed into manicotti shells and wrapped in bacon. They are a fantastic dish for a football snack table.
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Keyword: bacon, barbecue rub, barbecue sauce, barrel smoker, Big Green Egg, football snack, garlic, ground sausage, Kamado Joe, manicotti, shredded cheese, smoker, Traeger
Ingredients
1poundsausage
1cupshredded cheeseI used Mexican blend
2-3tablespoonsbarbecue seasoning
4 to 6clovesgarlicminced
12manicotti shellsuncooked
12slicesbaconnot thick sliced
about 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
Instructions
At least six hours before you want to start cooking, prepare your shotgun shells.
In a large bowl, mix the sausage with the cheese, seasoning and garlic. Once it is well combined, stuff each manicotti shell with the sausage and wrap each one with a strip of bacon.
Place the assembled shells in an airtight container or on a plate wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerate for six hours or overnight.
To cook them, preheat your smoker or oven to 250 degrees. Place the shells about an inch apart on the grill and let them cook with the lid closed for at least one hour before opening to check the temperature (you're looking for 160 degrees for done sausage) and turning them on the grill to make sure they cook evenly.
Just before the shells are finished cooking (ours took about one and one-half hours), baste them with barbecue sauce on all sides.
Once the sausage in the center of the shells is cooked through and the bacon is crispy, remove them from the grill and serve.