Wild Mushroom, Chestnut & Sausage Dressing
posted by anniebakes on November 11, 2010
5 comments »
5 comments » 
OK, so the other night I had nothing to read–which is very rare for me–so I picked up my new Williams-Sonoma catalog and read it like the Bible that it is: front to back, back to front, middle to end…and so on. I became obsessed with these little devils…
Yes, they are whole chestnuts, and I just had to have them! I’ve never used a chestnut in anything, let alone buy a whole jar of them so my OCD kicked in (I think you can see where this is going) and I became obsessed with finding a recipe to make with his little jar of wholesomeness. Fear not my friends, I searched high and low, only to find out that there are a couple of great recipes that include chestnuts at www.williams-sonoma.com/recipes. So while I patiently waited for the jar of goodness to arrive on my doorstep-you do remember I live very far from any civilized city, right? I perused said recipes to find just the one that would make me smile from ear to ear, and here it is folks, the best darn stuffing ever…
Wild Mushroom, Chestnut & Sausage Dressing
INGREDIENTS:
2 ounces dried wild mushrooms
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, warmed
1 pound loaf French bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 1/2 cups prepared French chestnuts, halved
12 ounces mild fresh Italian sausage, casings removed
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, combine the dried mushrooms and hot broth and soak for 1 hour. Drain the mushrooms, reserving the broth. Roughly chop the mushrooms, transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a baking dish. In a bowl, combine bread cubes and olive oil and stir to coat. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden and crunchy, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms.
In a suate pan over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onion and celery and saute, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the chestnuts and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer the onion mixture to the bowl with the bread.
Return the pan to medium heat and melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Add the sausage and cook, stirring and crumbling with the back of the spoon, until the sausage is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add to the bowl with the bread and stir in the parsley.
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the reserved broth. Add enough broth to the bread mixture so it is moist. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish and bake until crispy and golden, about 1 hour, covering the dish with aluminum foil if the dressing gets too dark.
*Assemble the dressing and place in the baking dish up to 1 day in advance, but do not bake. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking.
posted in side dishes, vegetables
So they were good? I'm curious about them too! Trader Joes is carrying them right now and I've been seriously tempted to buy them as well.
Hi Anne, Just like Julie M. (previous commenter) said, "Trader Joe's has them in stock right now and I'VE NEVER MADE THEM . . . I'd love to try them. My parents and elders in the family lineage traditionally roasted them and loved them. You've tempted me with another great challenge. PS: I got your photo uploaded perfectly if you'd like to check it out!
That looks delish and I love anything out of Williams Sonoma's catalog.
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
Hi again Anne! I wanted to quickly stop by and thank you again for sharing this tremendous recipe on my get-together last week. I felt it was just one of the best, so I featured it today as one of the most inspirational! i hope that you have an awesome week preparing for Thanksgiving; I'm sure that your table will be lovely and your food will be scrumptious! Blessings to you and yours, Roz
Hi again Anne! I wanted to quickly stop by and thank you again for sharing this tremendous recipe on my get-together last week. I felt it was just one of the best, so I featured it today as one of the most inspirational! i hope that you have an awesome week preparing for Thanksgiving; I'm sure that your table will be lovely and your food will be scrumptious! Blessings to you and yours, Roz