Apple & Sausage Stuffing

Serves 10 (9×13 baking dish)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients
16 cups rustic bread rough cut into 1” cubes (approximately 1.5 lbs.)
1 stick of unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)
2 medium onions – diced
2 stalks of celery – diced (if you don’t like celery then leave it out)
2 tart firm apples (Jonathan, King David, or Granny Smith) – cored and cut into bite-sized chunks.  We leave ours unpeeled.
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley – chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound ground sweet or spicy sausage (we use local pastured pork sausage)
1 cup fresh pressed unpasteurized cider
1 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 300˚ F.
2. Toast the bread cubes on a sheet pan for about 5-7 minutes.  The goal is to dry out the bread and give it a slight toast without browning or darkening the toast.  Watch the bread cubes or you will be cutting up more bread.
3. Remove the toasted bread cubes into a large bowl.  You need a bowl that is large enough to stir in the apple-vegetable-sausage mixture in steps 5 & 6.
4. Increase the oven to 350˚ F
5. In a large Dutch oven or heavy skillet, sauté the apples, onions, celery, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Sauté until the apples start to soften and the vegetables start to turn brown.  This process should take about 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally to keep the mixture from burning.  Once done, add the mixture to the bread cubes in the large bowl.
6. In the same skillet as step 5, brown the sausage until cooked through.  Add the cooked sausage to the large bowl of toasted bread cubes and sautéed apple-vegetable mixture. 
7. Add the cider and optional cranberries into the large bowl and mix.  Make sure everything is evenly combined and then transfer to a 9×13 dish.
8. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is brown and the stuffing is hot throughout. 

Notes:

We think the stuffing is best served hot.

If you like stuffing with your turkey, we recommend cooking them separately so that both your turkey and stuffing get fully cooked without either one being overcooked.  Trust us, you will be happier in the end.