Serves: 12 cups
Our family’s traditional Thanksgiving stuffing. It’s a lot of chopping but I can’t imagine the holiday without it!
Ingredients
- 1 Red Hen Stuffing Mix or 1 pound crusty bread, cubed
- 1 pound pork sausage
- 4 – 6 garlic cloves (or more)
- 2 teaspoons hot peppers
- 2 large onions, diced
- 7 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 ½ pounds carrots, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced (optional)
- ¾ pound crimini mushrooms, chopped (optional)
- 2 cups chestnuts (optional)
Farmers To You Ingredients:
- bread/stuffing mix, pork sausage, garlic, onion, carrots
Other Fresh and Pantry Ingredients:
- celery, hot pepper, green pepper (optional), mushrooms (optional), chestnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Wash all vegetables.
- In a heavy skillet, cook sausage over medium heat. When almost done, add hot pepper flakes and 2 garlic cloves, minced. Cook for a few minutes more. Place in large bowl and set aside.
- Chop vegetables into small chunks of approximately the same size. Using the same pan used for the sausage, cook the vegetables in batches. When partially cooked, add to the sausage.
- Use Red Hen Stuffing or cut your favorite loaf of crusty bread into small cubes. Place on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven. Remove when lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. (Optional: Melt a bit of butter and some oil in a heavy iron skillet. Add the bread in batches and cook briefly over medium heat. Add minced garlic and cook a bit more. Toss with vegetables and sausage.)
- I always add roasted chestnuts to this recipe. Preparing them takes a bit of time but is fun to do with family. (You can make this without chestnuts or you can buy them already shelled.) Select plump and firm nuts (there should not be any air space when you squeeze them).
- Carefully cut a deep ”X” into each nut. Place on a baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom. Cover pan with tin foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. When done, the nutshell will peel back slightly to reveal the yellow flesh inside. The shells come off more easily when hot but it is a bit hard on the fingers!
- Chop chestnuts into smaller pieces and add to the stuffing.
- Place some of the stuffing inside the cavity of the turkey. Put the remainder in a baking dish and cook separately, covered, for approximately an hour at about 350 degrees. Remove covering and cook for an additional 15 minutes to brown top. Add turkey drippings to the one cooked in a baking dish for extra flavor.
- Makes 12 cups, enough for a large turkey and more left over!