Christy Rost
celebrating home and family

Italian Sausage Cornbread Dressing

| Christy Rost

Cornbread

  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 2/3 cups yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ¾ cups milk
  • ½ cup canola oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and stir in the milk and oil. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until it is mixed.

Pour the cornbread batter into a lightly greased 9- by 13- inch baking pan. Bake 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cornbread comes out clean. Remove the cornbread from the oven and set it aside to cool. Cornbread may be made 1 or 2 days ahead.

Dressing

  • 1 pound Italian sausage
  • 1 recipe Cornbread, sliced into ½-inch cubes
  • 4 slices dry wheat bread, cut into ½-inch cubes
  • 1 ½ cups celery, chopped
  • 1 ½ cups onion, chopped
  • 1 large apple, cored and chopped
  • ½ cup golden raisins
  • 1 ½ tablespoons dried rubbed sage
  • 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 cups chicken broth

Place the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is crumbled and is no longer pink inside. Drain the fat and set the meat aside.

In a very large mixing bowl or roasting pan, combine cornbread, wheat bread, celery, onion, apple, raisins, rubbed sage, fresh sage, and Italian season. Mix well. Add the crumbled sausage and stir.

In a small bowl, whip the eggs with a fork and stir in the chicken broth. Pour most of the broth into the cornbread mixture and toss well to moisten. Add the remaining broth if the dressing appears dry.

Spoon the dressing into a large, lightly greased casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more to brown the top of the dressing.

If desired, the dressing may be covered tightly and chilled overnight before baking. To bake, bring the dressing to room temperature and bake as directed.

Yield: 12 servings

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