Starving Artist

The day after Thanksgiving – a day filled with leftovers and probably almost as much eating as the day before (in our house at least!). My mom cooked up her famous homemade raviolis, sauce and meatballs which is a Thanksgiving tradition in my family. And here I am, once again stuffed with delicious food :)

I wanted to share with you the stuffing recipe that I came up with yesterday. In my opinion, stuffing is the king of the side dishes, and I’m loving this flavor combination. The earthy flavors of the sausage, pears and chestnuts paired very well together, and were really balanced. To go vegetarian, just swap the sausage for Morningstar Veggie links, and chicken broth for veggie broth :)

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Sausage, Pear and Chestnut Stuffing

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Ingredients:

• 1 bag of whole wheat stuffing mix
• 6 sweet Italian sausages
• 1 pear
• 1 large white onion
• 3 celery stalks
• 5 chestnuts (shelled and chopped)
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 18 oz chicken stock
• 6 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

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Directions:

1. Cook the sausages on the stove in a large frying pan until cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, chop up the onion, celery, pear and chestnuts into small pieces.
3. Remove the sausages from the pan (let cool, and then cut into small pieces). Add 2 tbsp of the butter to the pan. Once melted, add in all of the chopped ingredients, garlic, and poultry seasoning. Cook until the veggies are soft.
4. In a large bowl, combine the stuffing mix, sauteed veggies, chicken stock, parsley, salt and pepper. Melt the remaining butter and add as well. Stit until all ingredients are combined.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″x9″ baking dish. Fill the dish with the stuffing mixture. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crunchy.

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