Traditional Sausage-Mushroom Turkey Stuffing

My mother-in-law was famous for her wonderful turkey stuffing, which my husband always looked forward to at holiday time. When my in-laws moved to California, he was bemoaning that he wouldn't have that stuffing anymore! I asked my mother-in-law how she made it, but she didn't have it written down, and told me "a handful of this" and a "handful of that". Needless to say, when I attempted to recreate it, it was a disaster. I started building a recipe from scratch, and ended up incorporating mushrooms, which I love. Ultimately, my husband ending up preferring my stuffing! As they say, necessity is the mother of invention!

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients

• 1  lb bulk pork sausage
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1  cup  sliced celery
• 2  cups  chopped onions
• 8  ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 (13 3/4ounce) can chicken broth (and additional broth, if necessary)
• 2  lbs  loaf firm-textured  white bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (stale or toasted, do not use fresh)
• 1  egg, lightly beaten
• 1  teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1⁄2 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Pan fry sausage over medium-high heat until crumbled and cooked well. Set aside.
2. In large fry pan, melt butter. Add celery, onion, and mushrooms. Saute until soft. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook down until about 1/3 of the liquid remains.
3. In large bowl, toss bread cubes with poultry seasoning, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add sausage and drippings to bowl and stir. Add vegetables and broth mixture to bowl and stir. Add egg and mix until fully combined. Mixture should be moist and bind together easily. (If not, add more chicken broth.).
4. Stuff neck and body cavities of turkey, or spoon into a greased 2-quart casserole and cover with foil. Truss turkey and roast as usual or, if baking, add casserole to oven about 30 minutes end of turkey roasting time and let bake for 45 minutes. I have also successfully made stuffing balls with this recipe, rolling the stuffing mixture into balls (I got about 15 of them), placing them on a greased, foil-lined baking sheet and baking in a 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes. They were moist and delicious!