Cornbread Dressing {Stuffing} with Sausage and Mushrooms

Though it's hard to pick one favorite dish from a Thanksgiving feast, I always find myself heading back for seconds {and thirds} of the stuffing/dressing.  I mean, what's not to love about bread, sausage, and veggies all baked together?  There were so many recipes online to sift through for our small celebration this year, but when my sister-in-law sent me this recipe from the Food Network for Katie Lee's Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Mushrooms that looked delicious and didn't feed a small army, I knew it was a win.  I made the cornbread on Tuesday night {from a delicious Trader Joe's boxed mix} and let it sit out to harden up and on Thursday morning it was super easy to mix everything together and bake along with the turkey.  While the recipe calls for 6 cups of cornbread, I did half cornbread and half regular bread, which I think gave it the perfect amount of sweet and savory to go along with the sausage and veggies.  It was definitely a hit with my audience of one {and made awesome leftovers} and I'm already planning out how to make another batch before the holiday next year!

Cornbread Dressing {Stuffing} with Sausage and Mushrooms

Ingredients

1 Tblsp olive oil

1/2 lb ground Italian sausage

8 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced

2-3 celery stalks, finely diced

1 yellow onion, finely diced

2 Tblsp fresh sage, minced

Salt & Pepper

3 cups cubed stale cornbread 

3 cups cubed stale bread from Italian or French loaf

3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add sausage and cook, breaking up into small pieces, until browned and cooked through {about 10 minutes}.  Using slotted spoon, transfer to a medium bowl.

2. Add a bit more oil to pan if needed.  Add mushrooms, celery, and onion to skillet and saute, stirring occasionally until tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in sage and cook 2 more minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn off heat.

3. Place cubed bread in large bowl and add sauteed veggies and sausage and stir to combine.  Set aside and let cool slightly.

4. Whisk together chicken broth, milk, egg, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in medium bowl.  Pour over bread mixture and gently stir to coat.  If not baking right away, refrigerate until ready to bake.

5. Preheat oven to 375.

6. Transfer stuffing mixture to greased 9x13 baking dish.  Bake until golden brown, about 30-40 minutes.

adapted from the food network

xoxo,

stephanie marie