Sunnys Italian Sausage Holiday Stuffing Food

SUNNY'S ITALIAN SAUSAGE-STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

Steps:

• For the squash: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the squash on a baking sheet flesh-side up and rub with the olive oil. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast until the edges begin to ripple and a poke with a fork reveals tender flesh, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool until easy to handle.
• Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
• Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into a large bowl, leaving about 1/4 inch of flesh within the skin of each squash half to help it maintain its shape.
• For the filling: In a large pan on medium-high heat, add the olive oil and sausage. While cooking, break the sausage into bits like ground meat with a wooden spoon. Once some of the fat is rendered from the sausage, add the onions, paprika, pumpkin pie spice, sage, celery, bell peppers and a pinch of salt. Cook until the sausage is done and the vegetables are tender.
• Add the mixture to the bowl of squash along with the cheese, walnuts and cranberries and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Fill the hollowed squash halves with the mixture and place back in the oven to melt the cheese and make the tops golden brown, 15 more minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve warm.

BEST EVER ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the cubed bread on a baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until dried and toasted. They should be golden brown. Transfer the bread cubes to a very large bowl.
• Add 2 cups of broth (I used vegetable) to a large sauce pan. Heat on medium-low.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the sausages over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage with a fork while cooking. I didn't find ground sausage so I bought sausage in the casing and removed it from casing before browning it. Use ground sausage if you found it.
• In another skillet, add the other part of oil and butter (I used vegan butter sticks to keep it dairy-free)in medium heat.
• When it is heated up, add the onions, celery, parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme. Add just a dash of salt and pepper, if you like. Saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened.
• Add the browned sausage, toasted bread to a large bowl. Next, add in the onion mixture.
• Add in one cup of the broth. With a large spoon, gently stir the ingredients together. Add in the whisked egg. Gradually add the remaining broth 1/4 cup at a time until the stuffing is wet. With each addition, gently stir and pat the stuffing ingredients together. Take care not to over mix it, you're just combining it all together. The goal is to have it wet, but not soaked and drippy. You may need the whole 2nd cup of broth and you may need less. You may even need a little bit more than a full 2 cups of broth.
• When the broth is soaked in and combined, spoon the stuffing into a 2qt. baking dish (or 9x12-inch baking dish); then cook for 30-40 minutes, or until it's heated through and golden brown on top. Check it at about 25 minutes and if it seems to be browning too much, cover with foil paper. I baked mine a full 40 minutes. Every oven is different. You may even need to bake it a few minutes longer to get that nice golden brown and have the inside fully heated through.
• Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with additional parsley, then serve.

SUNNY'S SIMPLE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, mix the stuffing mix with the parsley and set aside.
• In a large pan on medium heat, add the butter, celery, onions, thyme, sage and garlic. Season with a pinch of salt and a nice grind of pepper. Cook until the onions and celery are tender but the garlic is not browned. Remove to the bowl of bread cubes. Pour the stock over the bread and veggie mixture and stir to combine (this is a wet dressing, so it should be very moist). If using one of the add-in combinations, mix in the ingredients carefully.
• Pour the mixture into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Press down to make it compact, and then cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes more.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 6 minutes.
• Add the celery and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sage. Add the broth, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper; bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.
• Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the parsley, bread cubes and sausage-broth mixture and stir until combined. Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons butter into small cubes and scatter evenly over the stuffing. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, 20 to 30 more minutes.

INDIVIDUAL SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Make stuffing mix according to the package instructions, but use low-sodium chicken broth instead of water and add cubed chorizo or andouille sausage and a handful of chopped hearty herbs such as rosemary and thyme. Divide the mixture among individual ramekins or muffin tins and bake. If you're using a stovetop stuffing mix, prepare the stuffing, then spoon it into ramekins and heat in a 300 degree F oven for a few minutes, until crusty on top.

SUNNY'S ITALIAN SAUSAGE HOLIDAY STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sauté the sausage. In a large pan on medium-high heat, add olive oil and sausage. Cook until heated through and browned. Remove to a large bowl along with any remaining fat from the pan.
• Sauté the vegetables and fruit. In the same pan add butter and melt on medium heat. Add scallions, celery, onion, cranberries and Hidden Valley® Homestyle Italian Dressing & Seasoning Mix. Cook while stirring until the vegetables are tender and cranberries become a bit plump, about 6-8 minutes. Remove all to the bowl with the sausage.
• Mix stuffing. Add stuffing cubes to the bowl and toss. Pour over the chicken stock adding ¼ cup or so more if cubes are not moist enough, this should feel like thick mashed potatoes.
• Bake stuffing. Coat the bottom and sides of an 8" x 8" baking dish with cooking spray. Pour in stuffing and press down, leveling off the top with a rubber spatula or back of a spoon. Bake until top is golden, about 35-40 minutes.

ITALIAN STUFFING WITH SAUSAGE AND PARMESAN

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the 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 the basil, oregano, salt and crushed red pepper. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Stir in bread cubes and Parmesan. Stir in butter, wine and enough of the stock to moisten the stuffing, about 1 cup. If not being used to stuff the turkey, place in a buttered baking dish, cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes to form a crust.
• Note: If bread is very fresh, cut it into cubes, spread out on a baking sheet and let stand for several hours to air-dry.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. add onion, celery, bell peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon,, until it loses its pink color, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the basil, oregano, salt and the crushed red pepper. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the bread and cheese and mix well. Stir in the butter, wine and enough of the broth to moisten stuffing, about one cup. Use to stuff the turkey, or place in a buttered baking dish, drizzle with additional 1/2 cup broth, cover, and bake as a side dish, along side the turkey. . Makes about 10 cups. Serves 10-12.