If you haven’t checked out my review of Julia Turshen’s latest cookbook, Now & Again, which I called my new favorite cookbook without exaggeration, go right now! You’ll see just why I love it so much and think it’s a must-have for families, especially now that it’s holiday time.
Speaking of being in a holiday state of mind, I asked Julia to share a recipe from her Thanksgiving menu and lucky for us, she sent the recipe for her Sheet Pan Bread Stuffing with Sausage + Spinach – a rich and satisfying dish I can bet you’ll be making for years to come.
In Now & Again, the leftovers for this pan bread stuffing are reimagined as Crispy Stuffing with Fried Eggs — which is reason enough to make the stuffing in the first place.
That is, should you have any leftovers.
Related: 8 last-minute Thanksgiving side dish ideas, because we can’t live on turkey alone
Recipe: Julia’s Sheet Pan Bread Stuffing with Sausage + Spinach
Serves 12
Reprinted from Now & Again by Julia Turshen with permission from Chronicle Books
Since stuffing rarely appears separate from Thanksgiving, it’s an inherently nostalgic and meaningful dish. I bake my stuffing on a sheet pan so the crispy-to-soft ratio is basically one to one. If you prefer it softer, bake it in a smaller vessel like a baking dish.
Ingredients:
1¼ lb [570 g] country bread or sourdough bread, torn into bite-size pieces (about 9 cups)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb [455 g] Italian fennel sausages, casings removed
2 yellow onions, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt
12 large fresh sage leaves, tough stems discarded, minced
1½ cups [360 ml] chicken or turkey stock
One 10-oz [280-g] package frozen spinach, defrosted, squeezed dry, and roughly chopped 2 large handfuls of fresh Italian parsley leaves (a little bit of stem is fine!), finely chopped
3 eggs
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, finely diced
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
2. Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and toast, stirring now and then, until lightly browned and crisp, about 10 minutes. Set the bread aside to cool. You can skip this step if you use stale bread.
3. Meanwhile, put the olive oil into a large pot over medium-high heat. Crumble in the sausage and cook, stirring now and then, until all of the fat is rendered and the meat is crisp and browned, about 15 minutes. Add the onions, celery, garlic, and 1 tsp salt to the pot and turn down the heat to medium. Cook the vegetables, stirring now and then, until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Add the sage and stock and turn the heat to high. Once it is at a boil, turn off the heat. Stir in the spinach, parsley, and reserved bread. Taste the mixture and season with salt if more is needed. Add the eggs and give everything one good final stir.
4. Line the sheet pan you toasted the bread on with parchment paper. Transfer the stuffing mixture to the pan and spread it out in an even layer. Dot the top with the butter. Bake until the top is browned and the edges are nice and crispy, about 25 minutes. Serve hot.
Find the recipe for this amazing Pan Bread Stuffing and a lot more in Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers by Julia Turshen from our affiliate Amazon, or your local indie bookseller.
All photos © David Loftus for Now & Again used by permission
