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New England Sausage Stuffing with Sage, Thyme and Buttered Celery

Sausage Stuffing

This is the stuffing that earns its place on the table without the turkey doing any of the work. Pork sausage browns until the fat slicks the pan, onion and celery soften in it, and oven-dried bread drinks up warm stock without turning to paste. Sage and thyme carry it. The top bakes crisp, the center stays tender and just set.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 10 People
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 390
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lb country white bread cut into 3/4 inch cubes, about 14 cups
  • 1 lb bulk pork sausage sage-seasoned if you can find it
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter plus more for the dish
  • 2 cups yellow onion diced small, about 2 medium onions
  • 1.5 cups celery sliced thin, about 4 ribs
  • 2 tbsp fresh sage chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves stripped from the stems
  • 0.5 cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
  • 0.25 tsp nutmeg freshly grated
  • 3 cups chicken or turkey stock warmed, plus more if needed
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1.5 tsp salt to taste, less if the sausage is salty
  • 1 tsp black pepper freshly ground

Equipment

  • 1 9x13 inch baking dish buttered
  • 2 rimmed sheet pans for drying the bread
  • 1 Large Skillet 12 inch
  • 1 very large mixing bowl
  • 1 instant-read thermometer

Method
 

  1. Spread the bread cubes across two sheet pans in a single layer and leave them uncovered overnight. If you are short on time, bake them at 300 F for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing once, until dry to the center but not browned. Let them cool completely.
  2. Heat the oven to 350 F and butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  3. Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it into small crumbles with a wooden spoon, about 5 to 6 minutes, until no pink remains. Lift the sausage into the mixing bowl with a slotted spoon and leave every bit of rendered fat in the pan.
  4. Lower the heat to medium and add the butter to the sausage fat. Once it foams, add the onion and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is translucent and the celery has lost its squeak. Do not let them color.
  5. Stir the sage, thyme and nutmeg into the vegetables and cook 1 minute more, just until you can smell them. Scrape everything into the bowl with the sausage.
  6. Add the dried bread cubes and the parsley to the bowl. Season with the salt and pepper and toss with your hands until the sausage and vegetables are evenly distributed through the bread.
  7. Whisk the beaten eggs into 3 cups of warm stock. Pour about two-thirds of it over the bread and fold gently with a wide spatula, lifting from the bottom rather than stirring. Add the rest a little at a time until the cubes are moistened through but still hold their shape. Squeeze a handful: it should clump and stay clumped, not weep liquid. Stop adding stock the moment it does.
  8. Transfer the mixture to the buttered dish without pressing it down. Leave it loose and craggy so the top can crisp.
  9. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is deep golden and crunchy at the edges and an instant-read thermometer pushed into the center reads 165 F.
  10. Let it rest 10 minutes before serving. It firms up as it settles and spoons out far more cleanly.

Notes

  • Dry the bread the day before if you can. Cubes left uncovered overnight on a sheet pan work better than anything the oven does in twenty minutes.
  • Combine the wet and dry parts only when the pan is buttered and the oven is hot. Bread sitting in stock collapses fast.
  • Fold, don't stir. Every extra pass with the spoon packs the bread tighter and costs you texture.
  • If you bake it inside the bird, cut the stock to 2 cups, pack it loosely, and check the center with a thermometer. It must hit 165 F on its own, no matter what the turkey reads.
  • Serve alongside roast turkey, pan gravy and cranberry sauce. Mashed potatoes and green beans round out the plate.
  • Assemble up to a day ahead through the point of adding stock, refrigerate the dry mix and the sauteed vegetables separately, then combine and bake. Leftovers reheat well, covered, at 350 F with a splash of stock.