Proud Italian Cook

Turkey time is here and now is the time to start planning our menus for the big Thanksgiving Day feast. We all have our tried and true recipes that we serve on that day the one’s that our families count on every year, and this is one of mine, my ciabatta bread stuffing with sausage and herbs.

You might think that I use Italian sausage but I don’t. This stuffing is made with good old Bob Evans breakfast sausage, it comes in a roll a pork sausage that’s flavored with sage and other ingredients, I use it every year in my stuffing and I dare not change it for fear of a revolt!

Ciabatta bread is the key to this stuffing, it gives it a nice rustic feel and texture, it’s crunchy and slightly chewy and it holds up well when broth is added to soften.

I like to prep things ahead of time doing as much as I can the day before. You can easily prep the bread which should be day old and not super fresh. After it gets cubed up it gets dried out in the oven on a low temp, then left out overnight.

The sausage of course can be cooked up in advance as well, drained on paper towels and when cooled placed into a container and put into the fridge.

The celery and onions also get prepped and sautéed with a stick of butter, cooled down then place into a zip bag ready to be thrown together with the other ingredients the next day.

The morning of Thanksgiving Day everything gets dumped into a nice big bowl for easy mixing with some additional added ingredients.

Once everything is throughly incorporated and mixed well it goes into a buttered casserole dish which is the way I prefer to make it, however feel free to stuff some into your turkey if that’s how you like it.

Over the years we’ve come to love making three whole breasts out on the grill, everyone in my family prefers white meat, so that gives us plenty for everyone to eat plus leftovers to take home and the bonus of freeing up my oven for the sides.

Crispy, crunchy bites that form all over the top, nicely seasoned with the perfect amount of moisture underneath it all, it’s delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Ciabatta Bread Stuffing With Sausage And Herbs

 

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I usually double or triple this recipe for a crowd but I broke it down as best I could for you for one recipe.

Author: Marie

Ingredients

• 1½ lb. ciabatta bread, the bottom sliced off if too crusty along with the ends with a serrated knife, then the remaining sliced into 1 inch cubes ( you could use 2 lbs. depending how much you want to make)
• 1 lb. pork breakfast sausage, like Bob Evans in a roll preferably with extra sage
• 1 quart box of stock, turkey or chicken, you might use more or less
• 1 large onion, diced small
• 6 ribs of celery with leaves, diced small
• 1½ sticks, unsalted butter
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 2 finely minced garlic cloves
• 1 egg, beaten
• dried sage, thyme, salt and pepper for seasoning
• Sage leaves for garnish

Instructions

1. PREPPING THE STUFFING THE DAY BEFORE:
2. Place the cubed bread on a sheet pan and into the oven at 250, turning until all sides are very dried out, remove and set aside.
3. In a large sauce pan melt the stick of butter add the onions, garlic and celery, sauté on low until soft, let it cool then place into a container or zip bag for the morning of Thanksgiving.
4. In the same pan you cooked the celery and onions cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon and cooking until you see no pink. Place on paper towels to drain, let it cool then place into fridge in a container or zip bag.
5. THE MORNING OF THANKSGIVING;
6. In a very large bowl add the dried bread cubes, celery, onion and garlic mixture, chopped parsley and the cooked sausage.
7. In a small sauce pan add the stock and additional ½ stick of butter, let the butter melt in the stock, don't boil it just warm it.
8. Then cup by cup add the stock to the big bowl of stuffing ingredients, stirring until moistened not drenched in liquid. Remember you don't want a soggy, mushy stuffing, you want the bread to keep it's shape slightly.
9. Start to add your dried sage, thyme, salt and pepper, this is a personal taste, so taste as you go everything is cooked.
10. Start out with teaspoons then taste and stir, adding more, but always taste it.
11. When you think the moisture is good enough and the seasoning just right stir in the egg until it's all incorporated throughly.
12. Butter a 9x12 inch casserole dish with deep sides and pour the stuffing mixture into it.
13. Heat oven to 375F
14. Cover pan loosely with foil for around 30 minutes then uncover, garnish with sage leaves and let the top crisp up for an additional 20-30 minutes more.

3.4.3177