By Casa de Suna
Published Nov 05
A stuffing that can also function as a dressing?
Sign us up. This one is baked outside of the bird and can be tailored to family preferences. Dried fruit? Nuts? Apples? Add whatever you want to the vegetable mix! To make it extra hearty, cook 1lb of sausage meat before the veggies to incorporate–you can even use the drippings to brown the vegetables alongside butter.
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How to Make It
Difficulty: Easy
Overall Time: 2 hrs
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 35 min + 5 min cooling time
Serves: 10 to 12
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb (454 g) loaf sourdough bread, torn into 2-inch pieces, about 8 cups
- ½ loaf wholewheat bread, torn into 2-inch pieces, about 6 cups
- ½ cup unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cups chopped celery, about 8 stalks
- 3 cups chopped leeks or onions, about 2 medium
- 2 cups chopped fennel, about 1 bulb
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chopped parsley, plus more to garnish
- 2 tbsp chopped sage leaves
- 2 tbsp thyme or chopped rosemary leaves
- 3 cups Homemade Turkey Broth
- Chopped chives, to garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Arrange bread in a single layer on a large tray. Let it stand at room temperature to dry out, at least 12 hours.
- Melt ¼ cup butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add celery, leeks, and fennel. Season with 1 tsp salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook until vegetables are translucent, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are very tender and beginning to brown, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Add wine. Cook, stirring often, until wine is absorbed, about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer veggies to a very large bowl.
- Add bread and herbs to bowl with veggies. Toss gently to combine. Gradually add broth, tossing gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer bread-mixture to a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cover with parchment, then foil.
- In the last hour of roasting turkey, add stuffing to another rack. Bake for 45 minutes then remove from oven.
- Once turkey is out of oven and resting, increase temperature to 400°F. Uncover stuffing, then dot remaining butter over top. Return stuffing to oven and bake until top is golden-brown and edges are crisp, 25 to 35 minutes more.
- Set stuffing aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly before serving.
- Garnish with parsley and chives, if using.
How to Store It
Stuffing can be assembled up to step 3 and refrigerated up to 2 days ahead. Add 15 minutes to bake time if baking from fridge-cold.
How to enjoy it
If preparing stuffing on the same day, toast bread pieces on a baking sheet at 325°F until crisp, about 15 minutes. Let cool before combining with veggies. If you want to stuff the turkey, be sure to fully cool stuffing-mixture. Lightly pack about a quarter of the stuffing-mixture into turkey cavities. Add an extra 30 minutes to the roast time and or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the stuffing reads 160°F. Bake the remaining stuffing-mixture in a smaller baking dish. You can skip the homemade turkey broth and use unsalted chicken broth instead.
