Sausage, Cranberry and Apple Stuffing
Thanksgiving isn’t complete without stuffing. Technically when you call something stuffing, that means is cooked inside the turkey, which I don’t do. So this should be called a dressing, but I’m sticking with the original recipe title this time. Anyhow, this Sausage, Cranberry and Apple Stuffing uses sourdough bread and white wine which are a nice twist to the traditional white bread stuffing.
My only change would be to use more liquid next time around. I used a premade stuffing mix from a nice local bakery, but the bread is rock hard that way and it could have used more chicken stock for sure. I would keep that in mind if you use premade stuffing in your dish as well. If you are wondering what a premade stuffing mix is, when I use that term it simply means a bag of already cut and dried bread pieces. No spices or seasonings added.
Enjoy!
Sausage, Cranberry and Apple Stuffing
Makes 10-12 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 loaf sour dough bread, cubed (about 10 cups)
- 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 (12 oz) pork sausage rolls
- 1/2 cup shallots, finely diced
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped and divided
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 cup chardonnay wine
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.Place cubed sourdough on 2 baking sheets. Bake 10-15 minutes, stirring bread occasionally until toasted, but not browned. Place toasted bread cubes into extra large bowl, add cranberries and apples. Set aside.
- Butter 9×13-inch casserole dish. Set aside.
- In large skillet over medium heat, cook sausage using spatula to break it up as it cooks.
- Add 1 1/2 tablespoons sage. Cook through, but do not brown. Remove sausage from skillet using slotted spoon and add it to bowl with bread cubes. Leave 2 tablespoons of sausage drippings in the pan (drain any extra) and add shallots. Cook until translucent; add pecans, herbs and remaining sage to skillet. Cook 2 minutes stirring frequently. Pour shallot herb mixture into bowl with bread cubes.
- Add wine to skillet and scrape browned bits from bottom of pan as it cooks. Add butter and chicken stock. Bring to boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat and pour over bread cubes in bowl. Add eggs.Toss gently until combined and pour into prepared baking dishes.
- Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more.