Sausage Stuffing with Fennel and Roasted Squash

Ingredients

• •1 spray Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• •4 cups butternut squash
• •½ cup unsalted butter
• •3 cups chopped onions
• •2 cups chopped celery
• •1½ cups fresh fennel bulb
• •1 pound pork sausage
• •¼ cup fresh Italian parsley
• •2 tablespoons fresh sage
• •2 tablespoons fresh marjoram
• •12 cups pain rustique or ciabatta bread
• •2 large eggs
• •1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• •1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• •1 cup low-salt chicken broth

Cooking Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Scatter squash on sheet in single layer; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Roast squash until tender, stirring occasionally, about 55 minutes. Transfer to large bowl; cool.

   55 min

2. 2.

   Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, celery, and fennel. Sauté 8 minutes. Add sausage. Sauté until vegetables are tender and sausage is cooked through, breaking up sausage with fork, about 10 minutes. Add all herbs; sauté 1 minute longer. Add to bowl with squash. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill.

   19 min

3. 3.

   Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until bread is crusty but not hard, reversing sheets after 5 minutes, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer to very large bowl and cool.

   12 min

4. 4.

   Butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish. vegetable mixture into bread. Whisk salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend whisk in 1 cup broth. Add egg mixture stuffing, tossing to combine evenly and adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish.

   10 min

5. 5.

   Bake stuffing uncovered until cooked through and brown and crusty on top, 60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

   70 min