Sausage, Kale, and Butternut Stuffing
Sausage, Kale, and Butternut Squash are combined in a stuffing that is sure to please any crowd. Be sure to add it to your holiday menu today!
As I mentioned the other day, we’re hosting Thanksgiving at our house with all of our family (well everyone who can make it). We’ve got a total of 17 people coming to our house for the big meal and a variety of time before and after Thanksgiving. To complicate things, we’ve got a vegetarian and a nut allergy to deal with (on top of my lactose intolerance), but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Being the over planner that I am, I started testing recipes a couple weeks ago in an effort to set the menu with time to plan out when everything needs to go into the oven and whatnot. Now that it’s November, preparations are in full swing. At the end of the summer, I froze some green beans from our CSA for my homemade green bean casserole. We’ve ordered a second fridge to help store food for the week (we had been talking about getting a second fridge for a while anyways). Since people are showing up as early as the Saturday before, I need to think about food for the whole week, not just the big day. I’m hoping to get some food made and frozen ahead of time for the days leading up to Thanksgiving.
So hopefully you guys don’t get sick of my talking about Thanksgiving over the next couple of weeks here… I made this sausage, kale, and butternut stuffing for Hubby and some friends. After two bites, everyone agreed that this had to go on the menu for Thanksgiving. Kale (or spinach) and butternut squash is one of my favorite combinations out there. Add some sausage and you’re golden. I used homemade focaccia in this stuff, but you could obviously use store or bakery bought bread as well.
One Year Ago: Pumpkin Risotto with Seared Sea Scallops
Two Years Ago: Beet Smoothies
Three Years Ago: Homemade Three Musketeers
Four Years Ago: Pecan Pie Cookies
Five Years Ago: Crockpot Keilbasa and Kraut
Sausage, Kale, and Butternut Stuffing
Sausage, Kale, and Butternut Squash are combined in a stuffing that is sure to please any crowd. Be sure to add it to your holiday menu today!
Ingredients:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1 pound sweet Italian fennel sausage, casings removed, broken into small pieces
3 large leeks, white and light-green parts only, sliced
1/2 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 bunch kale, leaves trimmed and chopped
1 pound stale onion focaccia, cubed (I used homemade)
1 large egg
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or turkey stock
1 cup diced parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup shredded
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish.
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the leeks and squash and season with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper; cook until the leeks are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the kale, toss and cover until the kale wilts, about 4 minutes. Add the focaccia cubes and the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and toss until the butter melts.
Whisk the egg and chicken broth in a bowl until smooth; stir in the diced parmesan and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour the broth mixture over the bread mixture; cook until the liquid is absorbed by the bread, about 1 minute.
Transfer the bread mixture to the prepared casserole dish. Scatter the shredded cheese evenly on top and bake until golden and cooked through, about 40 minutes. Set aside for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe from Food Network Magazine
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
it looks delicious!
Beautiful cake! I can’t get over the ending either, too soon!
beantownbaker — December 26th, 2013 @ 10:56 am
Right! It happens every year, but I feel like this year flew by especially quickly.
Wow – super gorgeous!! I’m so glad you love this cake as much as I do! Happy Christmas and almost New Years, doll!!
beantownbaker — December 26th, 2013 @ 10:58 am
Happy Holidays to you too!
This cake looks so beautiful and I bet it tastes divine 🙂 can’t wait to try it!
definitely perfect for new years! i can’t believe this year is almost over, either- crazy!
this is perfect for our holiday-the Florida strawberries have been so sweet – thank you
beantownbaker — January 2nd, 2014 @ 1:31 pm
I wish I lived somewhere where the strawberry season was longer than a few weeks…
I was just thinking, what if we made this w/pink champagne?
beantownbaker — January 2nd, 2014 @ 1:30 pm
I think it would be great with pink champagne!
I know what you mean we grew up and lived in Michigan all our lives. When our kids were little I would take them to the farms to pick blueberries, raspberries and apples. The strawberry season was always short or not at all due to the wet springs we so often had. But we did get farm fresh ones at our local farm market. I now live in Central Florida where I’m learning so much about fresh grown foods. We live a few blocks from Oviedo where DUDA farms are. They are known especially for their celery but so many other fresh veggies. We have a few local farms where you can pick strawberries and blueberries. The gulf coast really has a lot of strawberry farms. On Tuesday our local Publix store had Florida fresh strawberries on sale. I just cleaned them last night (I think my husband took about 1/2 of them to work) We are fortunate, but I still miss Michigan and all the farming communities in our area.
beantownbaker — January 4th, 2014 @ 10:38 am
Wow – I bet things in FL are very different than Michigan! We can usually get strawberries at the farmers market as well. But again, it’s SUCH a short season. Last year we missed it completely. I’m still adjusting to the different seasonal timing in Ohio vs what it was in Boston. We always make a point to pick strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and apples. Peaches and strawberries are two of my favorite summertime fruits.
Woah, thanks a bunch for sharing!
I made this cake for my girlfriend’s surprise birthday party, and it was freaking delicious. Granted this was my first cake I have ever baked, but there wasn’t enough frosting to cover the whole thing and keep part of the actual cake from showing through. I don’t even like cake, and this was bomb!
This CAKE IS THE BOMB!!!!, I found this online in 2014. I showed it to my twin sister, I said, I won’t this for our B-Day, but we didn’t have it until September 2015, and again this year. So delicious, my son Loves it as well, we’re making it tomorrow December 28th 2015 for his birthday. Yummmmy!