Every holiday, I prepare this stuffing. I first learned how to make a variation of this during a Thanksgiving cooking class at Williams Sonoma back in 2010. This year, I made it a little different. I made it gluten-free and soy-free.
While my recipe usually calls for cornbread cubes or focaccia bread, my gluten-free version uses a couple slices of gluten-free white bread and Hawaiian bread. I normally buy sausage from Whole Foods, and I just realized that they have soy in it. I swapped my usually sage pork sausage with some brats that were soy-free.
Ingredients:
- 4 slices of gluten-free white bread (it’s ok if it’s a bit stale)
- 2 slices of gluten-free Hawaiian bread
- 2 links of fresh pork sausage, casings removed
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup roasted and peeled chestnuts, quartered
- 1/4 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as sage, rosemary and thyme
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or stock
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a large baking dish.
- In a sauté pan over medium heat, brown the sausage, stirring and crumbling with a spatula, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl or pot.
- Return the pan to medium heat. Add the olive oil to the accumulated fat in the pan. Add the garlic, onion, celery and fennel and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the bowl with the sausage.
- Slice bread into small cubes. Add the bread cubes, chestnuts, herbs and stock to the bowl. Toss gently to combine.
- Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish, cover with aluminum foil (spread some butter on the inside of it so it doesn’t stick to the stuffing) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue baking until browned and crispy, about 40 minutes more. Serves 3 to 4.
