Sausage and Apple Stuffing

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! My husband worked both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we will be having our big holiday meal on New Year’s Eve. Today’s recipe is great for a holiday meal, but you can also use it as a side dish anytime of the year. Most people only associate stuffing with Thanksgiving, but I love it on Christmas and/or New Years and it’s great any time of year. So, Merry Belated Christmas, Happy New Year a bit early, and on with the recipe…

What You’ll Need…

11-12 Cups Toasted Bread Crumbs

1 Stalk Celery (Chopped)

2 Carrots (Chopped)

1 Apple (Chopped)

½ Onion (Diced)

2 Handfuls Mushrooms (Chopped)

3 Links Italian Sausage (Any kind you like.)

1 Cup Chicken Stock

3-4 Tablespoons Butter

Salt (To taste.)

Pepper (To taste.)

As you all know I make my own bread, so I make my own bread crumbs as well. You can use store bought bread crumbs for this if you like, but I think that homemade bread crumbs are better. If you choose to make your own bread crumbs line a baking sheet if about two loaves worth of bread. Toast the bread in the oven until golden brown and then let it. Once the bread has cooled break it into crumbs. You’ll need about 11-12 cups of “crumbs”; they’re more like cubes actually. You can do this a few hours in advance.

Once the bread is cubed and you are ready to start on the rest of the stuffing pre-heat your oven to 350. Now move on to the vegetables and sausage. Chopped up one stalk of celery, two carrots, one apple of your choice, half of an onion, and two handfuls of any mushrooms that you like. 

Once the vegetables have been chopped take the casings off of the sausage links and brown the sausage in a small/medium skillet. 

Next, melt 3-4 tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet and add the vegetables in order of cooking time. Onions, carrots and celery take the longest to cook, so add them first. After a few minutes add the apples to the pan. Lastly add the mushrooms and sauté until all of the vegetables are cooked. 

Add the vegetables, sausage, salt and pepper to the bread crumbs and mix them all together. Lastly, add one cup of chicken stock to the mixture. Stir the whole mixture one more time before move it to a greased 9x13 pan. 

Let the stuffing bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!