Chestnut, Sausage, Pear and Dried Cherry Dressing

Perhaps the surprise star at the dinner table. This stuffing, or "dressing" if you will, was the best I have ever eaten and I'm proud to say that I made it! I knew that I wanted to incorporate chestnuts in it somehow. I've been craving it for a few Thanksgivings now but my family had previously opted to stick with our traditional celery, raisin, mushy stuffing. I make it sound gross...it's not. Actually quite good and it was what I was accustomed to. Now after having my new recipe, I don't know if I'll be able to go back.

The key difference between this year's recipe and my family's traditional recipe is the type of bread used. Rather than using standard store bought loaf bread that soaks up liquid and turns to mush (good mush, but much nonetheless) I used a ciabatta loaf from the bakery. I figured this would be a good middle ground between a soft loaf bread and a harder crusted peasant bread. This would allow me to keep the crusts on without risking a hard piece of crust in the final product.

I sifted through practically every chestnut stuffing recipe out there and could not settle on one perfect one that would incorporate all of the elements that I was looking for. So what did I do? Picked and chose precisely what I want to put in and threw it all together and crossed my fingers that it would turn out.

My final ingredient list included:

Chestnut, Sausage, Pear and Dried Cherry Dressing

3/4 loaf ciabatta bread, cubed and dried
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 shallots, minced
butter
1.5 cups roasted chestnuts (I roasted my own, you could use store bought)
2 links of hot pork sausage, casing removed and crumbled
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tsp. sugar
2-3 stalks celery, sliced
2 d'anjou pears, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup chopped parsley
3 Tbsp. sage, chopped
2 large eggs
2+ cups chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Tear bread into small bite-sized pieces and set in roasting pan or bowl. To dry bread, cover with paper towels and leave out overnight. Or, place on a baking sheet in batches and lightly toast. Set aside.

Brown sausage crumbles and set aside.

In a heavy-bottomed pan, over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter, and then add onion and shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just soft. Do not brown. Remove onions/shallots from pan and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Add wine to pan and deglaze over medium high heat, cooking until wine reduces by about half. Pour remaining liquid over the onions. Wipe pan dry and add 2 Tbsp. butter. Add pears and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté pears, in batches if necessary, over medium high heat until they begin to brown slightly. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl or roasting pan, add sautéed ingredients to bread. Add celery, chestnuts, and cherries. Toss lightly to combine. Add sage and parsley and toss again. Pour in eggs and mix to incorporate. Slowly pour 1.5 cups stock over mixture and toss to combine. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper. Place stuffing in a 9×13 baking dish, and pour another cup of turkey stock over the stuffing, followed by the cream.

Bake stuffing for about 60 minutes, or until a golden crust forms on bottom. Serve immediately.

My mom said she wants this type of stuffing from now on. That made me feel proud. I gladly ate all of the leftovers and thought everything blended and complimented the other ingredients very well. I was afraid the hot sausage would ruin the dish but it actually added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the cherries and pear.

I think the key take-away for making a good stuffing is:
1. buy a good loaf of bread, nothing too hard or too soft
2. choose an array of ingredients that cover sweet, savory, meaty characteristics
3. use enough liquid to thoroughly saturate the bread.
4. cook long enough to bind everything together

With those components, I don't think you can go wrong!