Sausage + Fig Stuffing

Stuffing is something that goes well with all cooked birds but to maintain the quality of the cook on the meat and the stuffing, we recommend cooking them separately.

Ingredients

• 4 of your favourite sausages (we used a white wine pork breakfast sausage)
• 1 loaf of bread cut roughly into ¾” cubes. 
• 2 cups of chicken stock 
• 10 crimini mushrooms
• 2 eggs
• 1 fennel bulb
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 6 chopped dry figs 
• 1 onion
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage leaves
• Salt + Pepper

Method

• Add olive oil to pan on medium-high heat. Break apart the sausages, chop the mushrooms and add to pan until the meat is browned. Season with salt, pepper and sage. 
•  Deglaze the pan with white wine and set aside. 
• In the same pan, add olive oil and cook down chopped onion, celery and chopped fennel with the dried figs. Once cooked down, add minced garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Deglaze with white wine and pour into bowl with the meat. 
• Set the smoke dial on your grill to 300 degrees and place bread on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes to allow the bread cubes to dry out slightly. 
• Scramble 2 eggs in a bowl and add chicken stock. 
• Add bread to meat mixture and stir until well mixed. Pour in the stock and egg mixture and continue to stir until all of the bread is wet. 
• Pour the whole mixture into a buttered baking pan and place in 350 degree smoke for 20-25 minutes until the top layer is nice and browned. 
• The smokey aromas from the bread with the warm and sweet flavors of the fennel and fig add something really special to this dish. With the sausage and flavors of this recipe, it truly is a standalone dish but does pair very well with your favoured prepared holiday proteins.