This savory cornbread and sausage stuffing with fried sage leaves and fresh herbs is the ultimate classic stuffing recipe for your holiday feast. Cornbread recipe very slightly adapted from Ronni Lundy’s beautiful and essential book Victuals.
- 2 cups medium-grind cornmeal
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups shaken buttermilk or milk mixed with 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and minced or 2 tablespoons minced shallot
- 4 stalks celery, diced
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups rich chicken or turkey broth
- 25 sage leaves, rinsed and patted completely dry
- ⅓ cup minced parsley
-
Working up to two days ahead, make the cornbread.
-
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, sea salt, and baking powder and soda. Whisk in the egg and buttermilk, mixing until everything is well combined.
-
Add the grease or butter to a cast iron skillet and set in the oven for 5 minutes. Keep a close eye – you want the skillet hot and the fat melted and bubbly. Remove skillet from oven. Carefully tilt the pan and use a measuring cup to scoop out about 2 tablespoons hot grease. Carefully swirl grease into batter, then pour batter into the hot pan with the remaining grease. Bake 20 - 25 minutes, or until cornbread is golden and just pulling away from the pan edges.
-
Cool completely and slice into 1/2-inch cubes.
-
To make stuffing, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange cubed cornbread on a baking sheet. Slide into the oven and toast cubes for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through. Set aside to cool.
-
Turn oven up to 425 degrees F and butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
-
Meanwhile, in a wide, deep skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. When butter is hot and bubbly, add the sage leaves and cook 30 - 60 seconds – leaves should deepen in color slightly but not turn at all brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with sea salt. Add the onions, leeks, and garlic or shallots to the hot butter, and sauté 5 minutes. Add the celery and sauté 7 minutes more. Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper as things cook. Scrape vegetables into a large mixing bowl.
-
Set the skillet back on the burner and turn heat to medium-high. If needed, remove sausage from casings and sear until cooked through (work in batches to avoid crowding). Use a slotted spoon to remove cooked sausage from the pan, allowing the grease to drip off.
-
Add cooked sausage to the mixing bowl with vegetables. Fold in the cornbread cubes, crumble in half the sage, add remaining herbs, and mix well.. Taste the mixture and add salt if needed. Fold in the in the eggs. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish. Pour the broth over the stuffing. Cover dish with foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20 minutes longer, or until the edges are crisp and golden and the stuffing is piping hot.
-
Crumble remaining fried sage over stuffing, and serve.