Italian Sausage Stuffing

By á-20898

This Italian Sausage Stuffing is just like the one my Aunt used to make, it's so good! Really brings back awesome memories of Holidays past and now that I found this recipe, we'll be creating many more for years to come!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium stalks celery with leaves, chopped
• 2 medium red bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
• 7 cups day-old crusty Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (you can use bag of stuffing cubes instead)
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cup turkey broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until it loses its pink color, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in basil, oregano, salt, and crushed red pepper.

Transfer to a large bowl.

Can do up to here a day before needed and refrigerate. Then continue rest on day you will use

Stir in bread and Parmesan cheese.

Stir in butter, wine, and enough of the stock to moisten the stuffing, about 1 cup. Use to stuff turkey.

If baking separately, add additional 1/2 cup broth to make a more moist mixture.

Place in a buttered baking dish (13X9 inch or larger works well if you like it to crisp up on top since you can really spread it out).

Cover and bake 30 minutes.

Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes to form a crust. Can broil for additional crispy top.

Note: If bread is very fresh, cut it into cubes, spread out on a baking sheet and let stand several hours to air-dry.