This Baked Butternut Squash with Italian Sausage Stuffing Recipe is a delicious casserole of comfort food. With butternut squash, ground turkey, sage, thyme, sourdough bread, Asiago and Parmesan cheese, you’ll be enjoying this dish all season long!
Baked Butternut Squash with Italian Sausage Stuffing
- Yield: 10
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cooking Time: 45 min
Ingredients
- 20 ounces sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes and dried out (*see note)
- 5 cups cubed butternut squash (about one medium size squash)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
- 1 pound ground sweet Italian chicken or turkey sausage, casing removed
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3½ cups chicken or turkey stock
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ cup Asiago cheese, shredded
- ½ cup (1 stick) of butter, melted
- Nonstick oil spray
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Toss butternut squash with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the sausage in a saucepan over medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes. Add garlic, onion, celery, sage, and thyme. Sauté for 3 more minutes then remove from heat.
- Remove squash from the oven after 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375.
- Beat the eggs, and stir them into the chicken stock.
- In a large bowl combine the bread cubes, sausage mixture, baked squash, Parmesan and Asiago cheese, and ½ teaspoon salt and pepper.
- Pour half the chicken stock/egg mixture into the bowl, distributing evenly, and gently fold together.
- Pour the rest of the chicken stock liquid and the melted butter evenly over the mixture, and gently fold together again.
- Spray a 9" X 13" dish with cooking spray and add the stuffing mixture.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes uncovered.
Recipe Tags
*To dry out the bread, cut it into cubes and heat on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Or cut it into cubes and let it sit out on the counter uncovered for 24 hours.
*When mixing the bread with the other ingredients, avoid over-work the stuffing or the bread will lose its structure.
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