Gluten-Free Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing with Herbs

We are hosting family Thanksgiving this year, and we’re so happy that our family is making the trip to spend a few days together. Like any family we all have busy lives and don’t get to see each other as often as we would like, so it makes holidays all the more special for us. It means cooking for 15 this year instead of 5 and making sure we get everyone’s favorites on the table. It’s going to be a busy, crazy couple of days, and we wouldn’t miss it for the world.

It also means paying more attention to ingredients so my sister can safely enjoy the meal with all of us, so for the first time I’ve been doing some gluten-free baking to get ready for the big feast. My family eats stuffing cooked outside the bird, and the dressing my family made when we were growing up was shaped into small patties and baked. I prefer to bake it casserole-style because I think it retains moisture better and becomes a perfect palette for the gravy.

Because I’m new to gluten-free baking and just learning about all the gluten-free flours, I chose to use the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornbread Mix for this recipe, though of course you can use your own GF cornbread recipe. The mix made a 9×9 pan of cornbread, and about half of that was enough for this stuffing recipe, so the extras can be eaten with another meal. Making the cornbread a day ahead allowed time for it to dry a little before mixing into the stuffing.

The celery and all the fresh herbs came from our garden. Looking out at the garden and seeing the herbs and some of the greens still growing on a chilly November day always makes me smile, and we’ve found that most of the herbs continue to grow throughout the winter, giving us fresh garden flavor during cold months.

This recipe is my contribution to Grow Your Own, a blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we’ve grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. Whether it’s autumn or spring wherever you are, we hope you’ll join us this month, and if you have holiday recipes to share that will make it even more festive. Send your post information to me at andreasrecipesgyo AT gmail DOT com by November 30. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page.

GLUTEN-FREE CORNBREAD AND SAUSAGE STUFFING WITH HERBS

Serves 12.

Equipment

large skillet
large mixing bowl
9×13 pan, lightly coated with nonstick spray

Ingredients

16 ounces baked gluten-free cornbread, cooled completely (We recommend making it a day ahead.)
12 ounces gluten-free sweet Italian sausage, casing removed and crumbled
1-1/3 cups chopped celery
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup (80 g) dried cranberries
3 tablespoons minced fresh sage
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup (20 g) chopped flat leaf parsley
2 to 3 cups (480 to 720 ml) gluten-free turkey or chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F/190° C.

2. In the large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until it’s browned and fully cooked. Add the celery and onion and cook while stirring until they have softened but still have a slight crunch. Remove from the heat and stir in the cranberries.

3. Break up the cornbread into large chunks and put it into the mixing bowl. Add the sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley and toss.

4. Pour 2 cups of the broth over the cornbread chunks and stir. The cornbread should soak up most of the liquid and look wet, not dry. Add more broth 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture is wet but not soupy and has a little liquid pooled at the bottom of the bowl.

5. Add the sausage mixture and toss well. Add salt and pepper to the mixture and stir. Add the melted butter and and eggs and stir well.

6. Spread the stuffing in the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and continue baking until lightly browned on top, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

More Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes (May or may not be gluten-free.)

More Stuffing Recipes From Around the Blogs

101 Cookbooks – Sage, Walnut, and Dried Fig Stuffing

Gluten-Free Goddess – Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing with Maple Roasted Acorn Squash

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook – Chanterelle Stuffing

Baking Bites – Bacon, Pumpkin, and Pecan Stuffing

[An original post from Andrea Meyers: making life delicious. All images and text copyrighted, All Rights Reserved.]

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