Sausage Pear Stuffing Recipes

BEST SAUSAGE STUFFING

Steps:

• Place sausage in a large, deep skillet; cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown, about 10 minutes. Remove sausage from the skillet and let drain on paper towels. Combine melted margarine with the sausage drippings until there is 1 cup of drippings and margarine combined.
• Cook and stir onion and celery in the margarine-dripping mixture in the same skillet over medium heat until onion is tender but not browned, about 10 minutes . Stir in about 1/3 of the bread cubes. Pour onion mixture into a large bowl and stir in remaining bread cubes, sausage, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Watch your hands, it's hot. Mix well. This stuffing is ready for baking.

SAUSAGE PEAR STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisped but not golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool. In a 14-inch straight-sided skillet (or 2 large skillets), melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions, leeks, celery, fennel, and pears; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables and pears are softened and start to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in rosemary and sage.
• Meanwhile, cook sausage in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally and breaking into large crumbles, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Stir into vegetable mixture, then transfer to a large bowl. Add bread cubes and toss well. Drizzle stock over mixture, add eggs and parsley, and toss to combine well. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Use 10 cups stuffing to fill bird; place remainder in a buttered 8-inch-square baking dish. After turkey is out of oven, bake at 350 degrees until heated through and top is browned, 40 to 45 minutes.

SAUSAGE, APPLE AND PEAR STUFFING WITH CRANBERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• In a large skillet set over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up with the back of a spoon, until browned through, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, leeks, apples and pears and cook, stirring, until fragrant and softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 1 more minute. Add the chicken broth and scrape up any brown bits that have formed on the bottom of the skillet, cooking for an additional minute. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, combine the stuffing and cooled sausage mixture. Add the cranberries and eggs and mix well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish.
• Bake until golden brown on top, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes. Top with additional parsley and serve.

SAUSAGE, PEAR AND PARSNIP STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place bread cubes on large rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven until just beginning to color, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheet. Transfer to large bowl. Maintain oven temperature. Steam parsnips over boiling water until tender, about 4 minutes.
• Sauté sausage in heavy large pot set over medium-high heat until brown and cooked through, breaking into small pieces with back of spoon, about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage to strainer set over bowl. Add enough melted butter to sausage drippings to measure 6 tablespoons; add to pot. Heat over medium-low heat. Add leeks, dried pears, sage, nutmeg and parsnips to pot and sauté until leeks are tender but not brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to medium bowl; stir in sausage.
• Heat 2 tablespoons melted butter in same pot over medium-high heat. Add fresh pears and sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to bowl with parsnip mixture. Add 1 cup broth to same pot and boil until reduced almost to glaze, scraping up browned bits, about 5 minutes. Add to parsnip mixture. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover bread and parsnip mixture separately. Store bread at room temperature. Refrigerate parsnip mixture.) Add parsnip mixture to bread. Season with salt and pepper. Mix eggs into stuffing.
• To bake stuffing in turkey:
• Loosely fill main cavity with stuffing. Add enough broth to remaining stuffing to moisten lightly (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup, depending on amount of remaining stuffing). Generously butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about 25 to 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• To bake all of stuffing in baking dish:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Add enough broth to stuffing to moisten (about 3/4 to 1 cup). Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with butter foil, buttered side down; bake until heated through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes longer.