Best Chestnut Stuffing

I fell in love with this stuffing as a kid, if you can find jarred chestnuts you can skip the roasting step. Although you can stuff a 16-18 lb turkey with this stuffing, I recommend that you bake it separately.

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Serves: 4-6
• Yields: 9 cups

Ingredients

• 1  lb fresh chestnuts
• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground beef
• 1⁄2 lb bulk pork sausage
• 1  cup onion
• 1  cup celery
• 3 1⁄2 cups turkey broth or 3 1⁄2 cups chicken broth
• 1  cup long grain rice
• 1  cup raisins (golden preferred)
• 1⁄2 cup  almonds or 1⁄2 cup pine nuts
• 2  tablespoons  turkey drippings or 2  tablespoons  chicken  drippings
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 2  teaspoons cinnamon (this is never enough)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 2  eggs

Directions

1. Cut slash in chestnuts with sharp knife.
2. Roast on a baking sheet in 450 degree oven for 5-6 minutes (up to 15 minutes if needed); cool.
3. Peel and coarsely chop.
4. In a large skillet cook beef, sausage, onion, and celery till meat is browned and vegetables are tender.
5. Drain off fat.
6. Add 3 Cups of broth, chestnuts, uncooked rice, raisins, nuts, drippings, salt, cinnamon, and pepper.
7. Cover, simmer 30 minutes or until rice is cooked stir to prevent burning.
8. Remove from heat.
9. Combine remaining 1/2 c broth and eggs; stir into meat mixture.
10. Bake covered in a 3 qt casserole at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.