Overabove Quarterly View Q4 2023 | Page 18

Easy Sausage and Herb Stuffing Submitted by Chelsea Norton , Senior Copywriter | Serves 8-10

I first made this stuffing in 2020 when COVID turned the holidays upside down and we couldn ’ t visit our families . I always looked forward to my mom ’ s sausage and cranberry stuffing but decided to try something with a different spin that year at home . Since then , this recipe has become a new holiday staple that even my mom prefers over her go-to recipe of 30 + years ! The scent of sage wafting through the house is pure heaven .

INGREDIENTS
• 8 cups store-bought unseasoned stuffing cubes
• 1 stick ( ½ cup ) unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups diced yellow onion ( from 1 large or 2 small onions )
• 1 cup diced celery ( from 3 large celery stalks )
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage ( i . e ., sausage with the casings removed )
• 2 ¾ cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 large egg , beaten
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
• ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS 1 . Preheat the oven to 350 ° F . Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter . 2 . Place the stuffing cubes in a large mixing bowl . 3 . In a large sauté pan , melt the butter . Add the onions and celery and cook over medium heat , stirring occasionally , for about 8 minutes , or until the vegetables are soft . Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more . Add the vegetables to the stuffing cubes . ( Don ’ t wash the pan but scrape out every last bit of vegetables , otherwise they will burn in the next step .)
4 . In the same pan , cook the sausage over medium heat for 8-10 minutes , until browned and cooked through , breaking up the sausage with a metal spatula while cooking ( the largest pieces should be no greater than ¼-inch ). Add the browned sausage and fat to the bread cubes and vegetables .
5 . Add the chicken broth , egg , rosemary , sage , parsley , salt and pepper to the bread cube mixture and mix until the bread is soft and moistened . Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and bake for 65-75 minutes , uncovered , until deeply golden and crisp on top .
18 THE OVERABOVE FAMILY COOKBOOK