Bread Stuffing with Sausage, Cranberry, and Dried Apple

Our family stuffing has always included sausage. Nothing brings a flavor punch like a pound of pork sausage browned up and added to your stuffing (especially when it's not actually going in the bird). This is the second or third year that I've been preparing stuffing for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday meals, and it's undergone some evolutions. We started adding dried cranberries to the bread stuffing once dried sweetened cranberries became available regularly; this Thanksgiving I had dried apples on hand, and the added sweetness went well with the pork sausage.

This recipe is based on America's Test Kitchen's basic "Classic Stuffing for a Crowd" recipe, which is a great base for trying your own interpretations for the next holiday gathering. It's very easy, and can be made with (plain) storebought bread cubes in place of homemade--just make sure to increase the amount of chicken broth to 7 cups to compensate for the lower moisture content.

ATK points out that you can air-dry the bread cubes if you work it a day (or, ideally, two) ahead of time; but, if you don't want 5 cookie sheets with ½-inch bread cubes drying in a single layer taking up counter space in your kitchen, you can dry the cubes in a 300-degree oven for 30-60 minutes and let them cool prior to mixing with the other ingredients.

Ingredients

1½ pounds bulk breakfast sausage

12 tablespoons butter (1½ sticks), plus extra for baking dish

4 medium ribs celery, chopped fine

2 medium onions, minced

½ cup minced fresh parsley leaves

3 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried)

3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried)

1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)

3 pounds high-quality sandwich bread (white), cut into ½-inch cubes and dried

1 ½ cups dried sweetened cranberries

¾ cup dried apple, diced medium

5 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

4 large eggs, beaten lightly

2 teaspoons table salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Hardware
large skillet (12 inches minimum)
very large mixing bowl
wooden spoon
15 x 10-inch baking dish (see step 3 for substitutions)
baking sheet (for drying bread cubes)
aluminum foil

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the skillet and reserve. Drain the fat, and reserve.

2. Either add all the butter to the now empty skillet, or substitute the reserved sausage fat for an equal amount of butter -- you'll need a total 12 of tablespoons of fat. Add the celery and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a very large mixing bowl.

3. Add the sausage, cranberries, apple, dried, cooled bread, stock or broth, eggs, salt, and pepper to the vegetables and toss gently to distribute dry and wet ingredients evenly. Turn mixture into buttered 15-x 10-inch baking dish. (If you don't have a 15 x 10 dish, here is a guide to substitutions--more mixture in a smaller dish means a denser texture.)

4. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

To Make Ahead: The stuffing can be assembled in the baking dish, then wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking. To bake, let the stuffing stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and proceed to bake as directed in step 3.