Make Ahead Thanksgiving Mushroom Sausage Stuffing Food

MAKE-AHEAD SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into bite-sized pieces, until it is browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer the sausage with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
• Melt 5 tablespoons of the remaining butter in the skillet. Add the onions, celery, sage, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions and celery are soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the mixture to the bowl with the sausage; add the bread cubes, and toss to coat.
• Let the bread-sausage mixture cool to room temperature. Transfer it to a resealable plastic bag, label and date, and freeze for up to 2 weeks.
• To serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Heat the stock and 4 tablespoons of the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter melts. Whisk the eggs and parsley together in a large bowl. Break the frozen stuffing with your hands into smaller chunks, add to the bowl and toss. Add the stock-butter mixture, and toss to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and dot with the 2 remaining tablespoons butter. Cover tightly with foil, and bake until the stuffing is hot, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Uncover and continue to bake until golden brown on top, about 20 minutes more. Serve warm.

MUSHROOM AND SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Coat a large wide pot with olive oil and toss in the celery and onions. Season with salt and cook the veggies over medium-high heat until soft and very aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the sausage and cook, breaking it into really small pieces with a metal spoon or spatula, until it's really brown and yummy, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Add the white wine and cook until it has evaporated by half. (The mix will be pretty soupy, and that's okay.)
• Combine the bread with the sausage mixture in a large bowl. Toss in the walnuts and sage and pour about half the chicken stock into the bowl. Using your hands, work to combine everything well -- really get in there and squish it up; it's fun! Add the remaining stock as needed to create a really moist mix. Taste and season with salt, if needed.
• Transfer the mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and cover with foil. Bake until the stuffing is hot all the way through, about 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake to brown the top, another 15 minutes.

SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With a paper towel, wipe off the outsides of mushrooms. Remove and finely chop the stems. Set the caps aside.
• Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium. Brown the sausage until cooked through, using a sturdy spoon to break apart the meat into small pieces (sausage is kind of a pain to break into small pieces-once I have the pieces fairly small, sometimes I use a potato masher to split them further). This will take about 8 minutes.
• To the skillet, add the mushroom stems, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Cook until the stems are softened, about 4 minutes.
• Stir in the green onion, garlic, and Italian breadcrumbs. Set aside to cool.
• In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, egg yolk, and Parmesan with a fork until smoothly combined.
• Fold in the sausage mixture.
• With a spoon, generously fill each mushroom cap so that you create a mound on top. Arrange in a baking dish large enough to hold them snugly in a single layer (they will touch at the edges).
• Bake the stuffed mushrooms until browned and the filling is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Some liquid may seep out; simply leave it behind in the pan.
• Transfer to a serving plate and let cool at least 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD THANKSGIVING MUSHROOM SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Brush a 9x13-inch glass baking dish with 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Set aside.
• Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add celery and onions; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Scrape into very large bowl.
• Add 1 Tbsp. oil to same skillet. Add mushrooms; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms brown and liquid evaporates, about 4-5 minutes. Scrape mushrooms into bowl with celery.
• Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil and sausage to same skillet. Sauté until brown and cooked through, about 8 minutes; add to bowl with vegetables.
• Add the broth and brandy to the same skillet. Bring to simmer, scraping up browned bits. Pour broth mixture into same bowl. Add in the herbs, salt, and pepper and combine.
• Mix in bread. Spoon stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at leas 6 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove plastic wrap; cover stuffing with foil. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake until top begins to brown, about 25 minutes longer. Or if you don't have time to wait 25 minutes, broil and watch carefully so tops don't brown.

SAUSAGE-STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it's completely browned. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients. Finally, swirl in the mascarpone and continue cooking until the mascarpone has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste, Cool slightly.
• Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.