A Thanksgiving feast is not a feast without stuffing, am I right? So, with Thanksgiving almost upon us I thought I should share this Pork and Herb Stuffing recipe. It’s delicious folks!
This Pork and Herb Stuffing is delicious, did I say that already?
I the recipe asks for sweet Italian pork sausage, but if you have a favorite pork sausage you can use it in this recipe. It can be sweet or a little spicy, either will work.
Using a day old baguette creates a dichotomy of textures. After baking in the oven it becomes delightfully crunchy on the top and melt in your mouth delicious underneath. For this reason, you will truly find it hard to stop eating this wonderful dish, you’ve been warned.
Whenever I can, I use fresh herbs in all of my food. The reason being, fresh herbs gives you heightened flavors. If you’re planning on serving this dish during the holidays do yourself a favor and buy a bunch of fresh parsley and sage, you’ll be able to use what’s leftover in other dishes. Here’s a few side dishes that might pique your interest.
As I said, fresh ingredients are key, another ingredient that must be fresh is the celery. You’ll need to dice a couple of stalks and keep them uniform in size. I cut them lengthways through the middle and then across to get that uniform size. Once the entire dish is baked, the celery should still have some bite which will give off even more texture.
Use a 9 x 13 ovenproof dish for this stuffing. The idea is to just cover the base of the dish. You don’t want to pile the ingredients and create many layers, just the one will do. As a result, you will get that crispy, melt in your mouth combination of textures. However, if you prefer a denser stuffing, use a square ovenproof dish instead.
I’m happy eating Pork and Herb Stuffing as a meal all by itself. It’s like a deconstructed toasted sandwich full of fresh ingredients. Give this dish a try and let me know what you think.
Pork and Herb Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 whole day old baguette - 8 cups cubed
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 lb sweet Italian pork sausage removed from casings
- 1/2 cup shallots minced
- 1 cup celery - 2 sticks diced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves minced
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut baguette into 1 1/2 inch chunks and place in a large bowl.
- Place skillet on high heat and add 1 tbsp butter.
- When the butter is almost melted add the sausage and mash with a spatula to break it up.
- Lower heat to medium and continue cooking the sausage until you arrive at sausage pebbles and almost cooked through.
- Add shallots, celery and garlic and mix thoroughly and cook until celery begins to soften, approx. 5 mins, and then tip mixture into bowl with diced baguette.
- Warm the chicken broth and then add butter and stir until butter is melted.
- Slowly pour over bread and sausage mixture.
- Sprinkle the black pepper and parsley on top then with a large spoon mix thoroughly.
- Tip mixture into a 13 x 9 ovenproof dish. You should have just enough to create one layer.
- Place in a preheated oven at 350 and cook until the bread becomes golden and crisps on the edges - approx. 45 mins.
