Rustic Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Stuffing (Make-Ahead)
Homemade sausage and bread stuffing studded with cranberries and apples and fragranced with sage. The perfect holiday make-ahead side dish recipe.
Servings: 0
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp butter (1 stick), divided
- 10 cups cubed rustic bread, 1/2-inch to 1-inch (3-6 cm)* recommended: semolina or bastone
- Fine sea salt
- 2 lbs sweet Italian sausage, casings removed**
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup finely diced celery
- 2 ½ tsp dried sage
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 medium (heat tolerant) apples, peeled and cubed recommended: Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 2 ½ cups chicken or turkey stock, divided
Instructions
- Use 1 tablespoon (15 g) of butter to grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13 in. (22×33 cm) baking dish (with deep sides), set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Spread the cubed bread in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Lightly season the bread with salt (and dried herbs, if desired). Bake until the bread is evenly dried and toasted, careful not to brown the bread, about 7-10 minutes depending on the moisture in the bread. They should feel hard and dry, like croutons, when done. Transfer the bread to a large bowl and set aside.
- In a large 12-15 inch (30-38 cm) skillet over medium heat, add the remaining butter. When hot and melted add the onions and celery, stirring to coat well in the butter. Add the sausage breaking it up with a fork or the back of a cooking spoon until roughly small and bite-sized, stirring often until cooked through and evenly browned, about 10-15 minutes. Add the sage, rosemary and thyme and cook, stirring until well combined and the flavors blend, about 2 minutes more.
- Spoon the sausage mixture over the bread in the bowl, stir gently while lifting from the bottom to combine evenly and well. Add the cubed apples and cranberries, gently mix to combine while lifting from the bottom again. Drizzle in 1 cup of stock and stir again to combine in the same manner.
- Spoon the stuffing into the prepared baking dish, spreading it out evenly. Drizzle the remaining stock evenly on top and in between the bread pieces. Lightly push down on the top of stuffing with the back of your spoon to help it all lightly adhere together, not too hard though. Cover with plastic wrap and foil and refrigerate overnight.
- (NEXT DAY) Preheat the oven to 375 F. Before baking, allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Be sure to remove the plastic wrap and wrap again only in the foil. Bake until fully heated through, about 1 hour. Remove the foil, the top should be golden brown and slightly crisp. Bring to the table.
Notes
* The bread should be cubed small to yield the most, approximately 1/2-inch to 1-inch (3-6 cm). Don’t fret over keeping it even though, it’s a rustic homemade stuffing so slight variations in size are welcomed. A loaf and a half of semolina or bastone, will yield approx. 10 cups of cubed bread.
** I recommend using fresh whole sausage links, with the casings removed, instead of buying pre-ground sausage so you have control over the desired size of the pieces. Stuffing results are best when the sausage is broken into small almost ground-like pieces.
The end result of the stuffing, after it has been cooked, should consist of bread that is moist and tender, not dry, and somewhat adhered to the sausage, reminiscent of how the stuffing would be if it had cooked inside of the turkey.