Let me start by saying:
I have never liked stuffing. (Excuse me, technically it is DRESSING since it is baked outside the bird but I’ll never get used to calling it that.)
Amidst the gluttony of Thanksgiving, stuffing is the one dish I will gladly give up to make room on the table (and in my stomach) for other things, biscuits or mashed potatoes or a second or third slice of pie. The only stuffing I’ve ever had and really liked is my Aunt Sally’s “million dollar” dressing, which features an entire bottle of Grand Marnier (so it’s no wonder I like it so much). But otherwise, stuffing to me is nothing more than a waste of valuable stomach space.
Until now.
This stuffing just might be a game changer, folks.
What makes this stuffing so special? It features Italian sausage, caramelized fennel, and marble rye bread. The fennel in the sausage enhances the flavor of the caramelized fennel, and plays beautifully with the caraway in the rye bread. Unusual? Yes. Delicious? Definitely.
But the real star of the show in my mind is the caramelized fennel. Two whole bulbs of it, to be precise. Trust me, it seems like a lot more fennel when you start; once it cooks down and gets all browned and happy, it’s a much more reasonable amount. We roast the fennel in the oven, since, with this much fennel, it would be very hard to get good caramelization on such a large quantity of fennel (unless you have a really big pan, of course). Plus, in the oven it just needs a stir ever 10 to 15 minutes, the rest of the time you can be working on preparing the other parts of the recipe.
The fennel then gets tossed with cubes of marble rye bread, sautéed carrot and shallot and fresh parsley and thyme, and, for moisture, a mix of egg, chicken broth, and molasses for a touch of sweetness. Depending on how moist or dry your bread is, you might want to add additional chicken broth as necessary.
This recipe is one of two we’ve prepared for the Kitchenthusiast blog this Thanksgiving highlighting our new KitchenAid® electric range with a double oven (this is the first year I’ve ever had a double oven on Thanksgiving, and I’m am beyond excited to say the least). The other recipe we developed are these soft Oat & Honey Multigrain Dinner Rolls, which are simply divine spread with soft salted butter or dredged in gravy and mashed potato.
I guess you could say we’ve got the carbs more than covered this Thanksgiving. As it should be.
Let us know what you think!
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This recipe was created in partnership with KitchenAid®. All opinions are my own. Be sure to share your take on these recipes on Instagram using #MadeWithKitchenAid for a chance to be featured on the @KitchenAidUSA account!