Holly’s Sausage, Apple and Bread Stuffing

This stuffing recipe originally comes from Holly’s mom, but is updated with options to be meatless, gluten free, and dairy free. The apples are Holly’s addition – pears and persimmons also work very well. The addition of the eggs may seem odd, but it was on old way of making stuffing, or “dressing,” have a similar texture to stuffing cooked inside a turkey. You can omit the eggs if you’d prefer.

Ingredients

1 loaf of bread, or Gluten Free Bread, cut into 1 inch cubes, or 1 bag of gluten free breadcrumbs

1 lb sweet Italian sausage or Impossible plant based sausage

2 eggs, whisked

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrot

1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced

⅓ cup butter or non dairy butter

3-4  cloves chopped garlic

3 cups veggie or chicken or your stock or broth of choice

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325. Add your bread cubes to a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Bump the oven temp up to 375. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish. If you’re doubling this recipe we strongly suggest that you get yourself one or two of those large, oval foil baking dishes. They’re big enough to accommodate both mixing and baking a double recipe. You can cook the sausage and chop the herbs and veggies the day before. You can actually do all of the steps up to mixing in the stock and eggs the day before. 

Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat for 7-10 minutes or until completely browned and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon, add the cooked sausage to the bowl with the bread. Leave rendered fat in the pan.

In the same skillet, melt the butter and add the onions, celery, carrots, apples, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Saute for 8-10 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Pour in the stock or broth and stir well. Pour the mixture over the bread and sausage in the bowl. Pour the beaten eggs on top. Mix everything together but try not to over-mix. Transfer it into the baking dish. Cover and bake for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes if you like the top a bit crunchy. Serve, and enjoy!