Sausage-Pecan Turkey Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients

• 9 cups soft bread crumbs
• 1 pound bulk pork sausage
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 3 unpeeled tart apples, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• Chicken broth
• 1 turkey (14 to 16 pounds)

Directions

• Place bread crumbs in a large bowl; set aside. In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion in butter until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender; do not drain. Add to bread crumbs. Stir in apples, pecans, parsley, thyme, sage, salt and pepper; stir in apple juice and enough broth to moisten.
• Just before baking, stuff the turkey. Skewer openings; tie drumsticks together. Place on rack in a roasting pan. Bake at 325° for 5 to 5-1/2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 185°. When the turkey begins to brown, cover lightly with a tent of aluminum foil and baste if needed. Remove all stuffing. Yield: 12-14 servings.
  
  Editor's Note: Stuffing may be baked in a greased 3-qt. covered baking dish at 325° for 70 minutes (uncover for the last 10 minutes). Stuffing yields about 12 cups.

Sausage-Pecan Turkey Stuffing published in Country Woman November/December 1994, p33