Butternut Squash Stuffing
This Butternut Squash Stuffing With Italian Sausage, Apple, and Dried Cranberries (optional) packs a double punch of autumnal flavors. Earthy, nutty butternut squash forms the base while tart apples, tangy cranberries, and spicy sausage provide delightful contrast. Perfect balanced of sweet, savory and herbaceous.
Equipment
- 1 baking pan 9 x 13 inches
Ingredients
- 6 cups sourdough or French bread. Tear or cut into small pieces and dried out. about 6 - 7 slices of fresh sourdough bread
- 5 cups cubed butternut squash (about one medium size squash)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 pound Italian sausage If come with the case, remove the casing.
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks finely chopped
- 1 apple finely chopped (preferably green apple)
- 4 tablespoons fresh sage leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3- 3 ½ cups chicken stock turkey, or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp maple syrup Real maple syrup please
- 1 cup butter melted, (2 sticks 1 for stir frying vegetable and the other for roasting the squash)
- Nonstick oil spray or use the butter that sticks to the wrapping paper.
- 1/4 cups dried cranberry optional
- pumpkin seeds optional
Instructions
- Tear or cut the bread into small pieces. Toast/Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to dry out.
- Turn the oven heat up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss butternut squash with 1/2 cup or 1 stick of melted butter and maple syrup. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile melt 1/2 cup or 1 stick butter. Add garlic,onion, celery, apple, dried cranberries (optional), sage, and thyme. Sauté for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the sausage in a saucepan to cook with the vegetables until the sausage cooked through. (About 8-10 minutes)
- Remove squash from the oven after 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375.
- Beat the eggs, and stir them into the stock.
- In a large bowl, mix the 1/2 - 1 cup of wet ingredients to the dried ingredients at a time and stir to combine. Keep adding the liquid mixture and folding until the croutons are soft and the ingredients clumped up together. Let it sit for a few minutes to absorb more liquid. If you find that the mixture is too dry, add more stock. If you see a lot of liquid in the bowl, add more croutons.
- Spray a 9" X 13" dish with cooking spray or grease with butter from the butter wrap paper and add the stuffing mixture.
- Bake for 40 - 50 minutes uncovered.
- Optionally, garnish with more dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. Serve warm and enjoy!
