It’s time to thank the unsung heroes of Thanksgiving Dinner

The turkey often gets all the attention at dinner, but Thanksgiving is also the perfect opportunity to show off some stellar side dishes and this is one of our (obvious) favourites…

Let’s be real for a moment. Turkey is great and all, but what we get most excited about at Thanksgiving dinner is the sides! Fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes. Crispy, seared Brussels sprouts. Creamy mac and cheese. And, of course, stuffing! It often gets overlooked, but really good stuffing can get people talking and our recipe for sourdough stuffing just might steal the show at your next family get-together. 

Of course we love stuffing - it’s mostly bread!  But the key is to use good bread and we love using sourdough. It’s hearty, nutritious and packs way more flavour than regular white bread. We “plus up” our stuffing with toasted walnuts and dried cranberries. The earthiness of the nuts and the tart sweetness of the cranberries are incredible together. And we don’t stop there. In this recipe, we add sausage and a ton of fresh herbs. It seems indulgent, but the savoury, salty sausage really adds extra layers of depth and richness.

You can absolutely skip the “fancy” stuff if you feel like it. The use of sourdough alone will add a lot of flavour and depth to this recipe if you’ve got a picky crowd. You can also omit the sausage and swap the chicken stock for veggie stock if you want to keep it vegetarian. As long as you’re using nice hearty sourdough,  you can come up with countless recipes to make your version of the Ultimate Sourdough Stuffing.  

THE ULTIMATE SOURDOUGH STUFFING

Shopping List

• Leftover Christie’s Bread. Any and all of it! This is the time to make use of all the bread butts you’ve saved in the freezer. This recipe is for about 650g (about a loaf) of leftover bread. You can scale up accordingly
• 2 Cups of Chicken or Veggie Stock (if you’re buying it, look for the reduced salt options so you can control the overall seasoning of the stuffing better)
• 3 Celery Stalks, diced
• 1 Large Onion, diced
• ¼ Cup Chopped Herbs (our favourites are sage, thyme and parsley)
• About ¼ Pound of Unsalted Butter
• 2  Sausages. We like using a maple breakfast style sausage and we love the Maple Bacon Sausage from Pig & Pantry Butchery
• ½ Cup Toasted Walnuts (if all you have are raw, just shuffle them around in a hot dry pan on the stove until they start to get a bit of colour and become fragrant)
• ½ Cup Dried Cranberries
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions

1. For starters, the best result is achieved if you toast your old bread first. We like to save our old sourdough ends in the freezer. Thaw them, chop into 1-inch cubes and lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake them in a 350-degree oven for about 8-10 minutes or until they get a bit brown and smell toasty. This may take a few rounds, but it’s worth it. You can skip this step, but your bread should at least be dry or stale.
2. Melt your butter in a large pot or casserole dish (eventually, everything is going to end up in here).
3. Add your diced celery and onion and let it sweat for a few minutes on gentle heat. Add a pinch of salt here to help them along. 
4. Add your sausage. For even distribution, we cut them out of the casing and crumble the meat as it browns in the pot. 
5. Once the sausage is browned and the vegetables are translucent, add your toasted sourdough cubes and stir to incorporate.
6. Add toasted walnuts and dried cranberries and stir to incorporate.
7. Add your stock and herbs and stir to incorporate.
8. Add fresh cracked black pepper and salt to taste.
9. At this point, if you’re going to stuff it in the bird, take it off the heat and let it cool in a bowl or container until you’re ready to use it.
10. If you plan to bake it in a casserole dish, place the stuffing in your serving dish and let it cool. When you go to bake it for dinner, 20 minutes at 350 with the lid on should do the trick. If you want some crispy bits, broil it for 3-5 minutes with the lid off. 

This is our version of the Ultimate Sourdough Stuffing, but what’s yours? You can add sauteed mushrooms. Or you could use browned butter and lemon peel with fresh rosemary. The possibilities are truly endless. The important thing to remember is: use good bread! Naturally leavened sourdough in particular adds a lot of nutrition to stuffing and the slight hint of earthy sourness really takes the flavour to the next level. 

Here’s to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and making sure we show our appreciation for all the tasty, starchy sides that we love so much!