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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 9x13 baking dish or large (14" cast iron skillet).

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword easy side dish recipe, holiday recipe, Thanksgiving
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 10 servings
Author Linda Spiker

Ingredients

  • 15-16 ounces ciabatta rolls (ciabatta rolls usually weigh 3.5-4.5 ounces each, so you'll need 4-5 rolls depending on size) cut into 1 " cubes
  • 3/4 pound loose mild Italian pork sausage
  • 2 medium yellow onions, diced
  • 5 celery ribs, ends cut off and diced
  • 2 large Granny Smith apples, cored and diced
  • 6 sprigs fresh sage, chopped
  • 12 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems
  • 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 5 pasture-raised organic eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 1/2 cups good quality chicken stock
  • 3-4 tablespoons Olive oil about 3 Tablespoons
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • sea salt and pepper, to taste to taste

Instructions

Toast the ciabatta:

  1. Heat the oven to 375ºF, place oven rack in center position

  2. Cut the ciabatta rolls, including crust, into 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 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 by holding the top of the stem with one hand, and pinching the top of the stem between the thumb and forefinger and sliding down the stem

  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- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add the sausage and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, until browned and cooked through, about 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, 3-4 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, parsley and cranberries, 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 chicken stock and 3/4 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. If stuffing starts to brwon too much toward the end of cooking time. tent with foil.

Serve:

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