Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Dressing

Again, we made this for our pre-Thanksgiving feast, and it was delicious!  The apples and dried cranberries made the dressing sweet, and the sausage made it savory.  We loved it.


I read that you can actually stuff your turkey with this to make it stuffing, but as I don't know anything about cooking a turkey, we baked it in a 9"x13" dish and called it dressing.  It's fantastic.


Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Dressing


1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
3 3/4 cups cubed white bread
1 lb ground pork sausage
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 tsp dried sage
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Chicken broth


Preheat oven to 350.  Spread the white and wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes in preheated oven.  Transfer bread crumbs to a large bowl.  


In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned.  Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.  Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl.  Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, and parsley.  Spoon into 9"x13" casserole dish, and drizzle with melted butter and chicken stock.


Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, drizzling with chicken stock to moisten dressing 2-3 times during baking. Serve warm.