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Italian Sausage and Apple Stuffing!

You can’t get more classic than this comforting Thanksgiving combination of pork sausage, apples, ciabatta bread and fresh herbs. You can make this recipe as a “dressing” by baking it on it's own, or use it to stuff your turkey. On its own, it can be baked in a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, or spread out in a shallow 9-by-13-inch baking dish, depending on how much crust you prefer. If you need more feel free to double up the recipe.

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword easy side dish recipe, holiday recipe, Thanksgiving
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author Sun Basket Foods and Williams Sonoma

Ingredients

  • 2- 5 oz ciabatta rolls
  • ½ pound loose mild Italian pork sausage
  • 2 yellow onions
  • 2 to 3 celery ribs
  • ¾ pound Granny Smith apples
  • 3 sprigs fresh sage
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 6 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 3 pasture-raised organic eggs
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
  • Olive oil about 3 Tablespoons
  • sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Toast the ciabatta:

  1. Heat the oven to 375ºF.
  2. Cut the ciabatta rolls, including crust, into ½- to 1-inch cubes.
  3. Spread the ciabatta cubes on a sheet pan and bake in the oven until dry and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. While the oven heats and the ciabatta bakes, prepare the remaining ingredients.

Prep the remaining ingredients:

  1. Drain the sausage on a paper-towel-lined plate.
  2. Peel and coarsely chop the onions.
  3. Cut the celery into ½-inch pieces.
  4. Cut the apples into quarters, remove the core, then cut the fruit into ¼-to-½-inch cubes.
  5. Strip the sage leaves from the stems; finely chop the leaves.
  6. Strip the thyme leaves from the stems.
  7. Strip the parsley leaves from the stems; coarsely chop the leaves.

Cook the stuffing ingredients:

  1. In a large pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the sausage and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, until browned and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a large bowl.
  2. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan, if needed, and warm over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until just softened and lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the celery and apple, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the sage, thyme, and nutmeg, season with salt and pepper, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  3. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the sausage. Add the toasted ciabatta and parsley, then stir to combine.

Bake the stuffing:

  1. Crack the eggs into a medium bowl; lightly beat until blended.
  2. Lightly oil the baking dish.
  3. To the bowl with the eggs, add the vegetable stock and ½ cup water; season with salt and pepper, then whisk until blended. Pour the egg mixture over the ciabatta mixture and gently stir to coat (the stuffing should be moist like a bread salad, not wet like a batter, so add liquid slowly, you may use all of it or have a bit left over). Scrape the mixture into the prepared baking dish or use it to stuff turkey. If baking in a dish, cook until the stuffing is lightly browned and crisp on top and the egg mixture is cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve:

  1. Serve the stuffing hot or warm, straight from the baking dish or spooned onto individual plates.