I love watching the Food Network and there are so very many cooking shows on at any given moment. I happened to catch Valerie Bertinelli’s new show “Valerie’s Home Cooking” and she was making this stuffing and it looked so easy and I am always on the look out for new recipes. I was having the family over for Sunday dinner and was making a turkey roast complete with cranberry, gravy and of course stuffing. I tried it and it was delicious and while I love my stuffing that I always make this one was easier and there are so many great recipes out there to try I figured why not? and who better to try it out on than my family who will always be honest with me.  I assembled the complete recipe the day before and left it in refrigerator over-night.  Cooked it before we ate dinner. Family loved it and this one will go into the rotation for sure.  Christmas dinner or any holiday/family/dinner give this a go and thanks to Valerie Bertinelli for this awesome recipe.

*I did take a few liberties with the recipe and you may want to as well.

Have a very Happy Healthy Holiday Season.

*see my other stuffing recipe “The Stuffing that will be on our Table” on cookingwithcandi.com

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1/2 lb. Italian sausage removed from casing–I used 1/2 hot and 1/2 sweet use whichever you prefer

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 medium  onion, chopped

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 cup dried cranberries

One 14 oz. bag cornbread stuffing mix, such as Pepperidge Farm or Arnold. You can use any one you’d like I used the crumbled one because I had it in the house but you can use the cubed one as well.

1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme

2-3 cups turkey or chicken stock ( you will start out with 2 cups and I added in a little more the next day when I cooked it)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 2 – 3 quart baking dish.

In a dry sauté pan over medium heat, toast the walnuts until lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes but keep an eye on them. Remove from heat and let cool.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon, until brown, about 5-8 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the celery, onion and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt . Stir occasionally, until vegetables are very soft and onion is translucent , about 10 minutes. Stir in the cranberries and cook to just slightly plump them, about 2 minutes and then remove pan from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, add the dry stuffing mix, sage, thyme and walnuts. Mix together the stock and beaten egg in a large measuring cup, then add it to the mixing bowl along with the sausage-vegetable mixture. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper and stir gently to combine thoroughly. Taste for additional salt and pepper but this was enough for me.

Transfer the stuffing mixture to the baking dish and bake until hot and golden brown on top, 30-40 minutes. Serve Hot.

*I had assembled whole recipe the night before, I removed from fridge and brought it to room temperature about 2 hours before I cooked it. I thought it was a little dry so I added about 1/2 cup of broth . I then added a little bit more during the cooking process. You’ll have to feel this part out for yourself if you do it this way. If cooking right away and serving you should be fine with amount of broth (2 cups). Also if you’re using as left-overs you may want to heat it up with a little broth.

*this recipe would easily serve 8-10 as a side dish but feel free to double