The first year my husband and I held Thanksgiving at our home, I decided I wanted a different twist on standard stuffing. After much research, I hit the jackpot when searching the archives (November 2004) at http://www.cookinglight.com/. I loved the mushroom and sausage concept and thought that it would be a hit and it certainly was! I have been in love eversince! Hope you will be too!

Love,

Neah B

Herbed Bread Stuffing with Mushrooms and Sausage

Becky Luigart-Stayner; Melanie J. Clarke

Making your own bread cubes is easy and yields delicious results. You can prepare the toasted bread cubes two to three days before Thanksgiving; store at room temperature in a zip-top plastic bag. If there's space in the oven, bake the stuffing while the turkey roasts. Otherwise, bake it in the morning, and reheat it while the turkey stands.

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 pounds peasant-style white bread
• 4 (4-ounce) links sweet turkey Italian sausage 
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, quartered
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups chopped onion 
• 1 1/4 cups chopped carrot 
• 1 1/4 cups chopped celery 
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Trim crust from bread. Cut bread into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on 2 jelly-roll pans. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until toasted.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
• Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 10 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan; cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Combine bread cubes, sausage, and mushrooms in a large bowl.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, carrot, and celery; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add parsley, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper; sauté 1 minute. Add to bread mixture. Combine eggs and broth, stirring with a whisk. Add to bread mixture; toss to coat. Spoon into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until browned.

Diane Morgan, Cooking Light
NOVEMBER 2004