the best thanksgiving stuffing: cheesy chorizo, caramelized onion and leek stuffing

Hot take: one of the best parts of Thanksgiving is getting to eat stuffing. I mean theoretically yes, you could eat it at any other point in the year, but it just doesn’t feel the same. Making stuffing is a whole affair, one that I’m only willing to go through during the holidays. Especially with my stuffing recipe. Which, full disclosure, is based off of a savory bread pudding recipe.

The story for how I came up with this recipe goes like this: during the spring break of my junior year I was participating in a time-honored ritual for many American high schoolers. Namely, touring colleges with your parents. On our trip to explore colleges in the Boston, we stopped in the middle of nowhere, at this tiny restaurant that seemed more like someone’s house than a dining establishment. Anyways, for my entree, I ordered roasted chicken, which came with savory bread pudding. I had never tried savory bread pudding before, but upon taking a bite, I was inspired. This bread pudding was everything I was looking for in a stuffing. It was dense, loaded with cheese and sausage, and the bread was generously soaked through, while still retaining some bite.

Ever since I started cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family in ninth grade, I had been trying to come up with a decent stuffing recipe. Every time, my stuffing was just okay. Not horrible, but somehow not as satisfying and Thanksgiving-worthy as the stovetop-esque stuffing my school served the week before. But this revelationary savory bread pudding set off a lightbulb in my head. On the way home, I planned out a stuffing filled with all my favorite savory foods: caramelized onions and leeks, shitake mushrooms, chorizo sausage, and gruyere and cheddar cheese. Most importantly, it also utilizes a mix of three of my favorite breads: cornbread, pretzel bread, and brioche.

Stuffing, but with an ~artful~ bite taken out.

Last year, I debuted this new and improved stuffing, and it was an absolute hit. Upon trying it, of my close family friends, declared it one of the best stuffings she had ever had in over 90 years of living, which was especially high praise from her. She even asked for the recipe. She passed away earlier this year, but in a weird way, when I made this stuffing this year, it reminded me of her, and of happy Thanksgivings past. That being said, I’m hopeful for next Thanksgiving, for by then I will once again be able to make a whole cornucopia of dishes, accompanied by a similarly absurd amount of people, and of course, this stuffing. I hope you’ll be joining me.

cheesy chorizo, caramelized onion and leek stuffing

adapted from once upon a chef’s savory sausage and cheddar bread pudding

serves: 10

cooking time: 2 hours

ingredients

• 2 tbs. unsalted butter

• 1 lb chorizo sausage, casings removed

• 1 1/2 cups grated white cheddar

• 1 cup grated gruyere

• 2 cups half and half

• 1 large piece of cornbread, torn into bite-size pieces or diced

• 1 mini loaf brioche, torn into bite-size pieces or diced

• 1 large onion, diced

• 1 leek, sliced

• 1 stalk celery, sliced,

• 1 lb. shitake mushrooms, sliced

• 6 large eggs

• 1 package pretzel bread, torn into bite-size pieces or diced

• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

• 1 bunch parsley

• 2 tbs. oregano

• 2 tbs. sage

• chicken stock, as needed

steps

1. Leave cubes or chunks of bread overnight in the baking pan, so it becomes slightly dried out.

2. In a large sauté pan melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add the sausage and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break the meat into small clumps, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a large mixing bowl, leaving the fat in the pan.

3. Turn the heat down to medium, then add the onions to the pan along with 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook the onions, stirring constantly, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

4. Add in the leeks, mushrooms, and celery, then cook vegetables are very soft and slightly caramelized. Add chicken stock if pan gets too dried out.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper, then fold in the cheese.

6. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread mixture. Cover tightly with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least a few hours or overnight.

7. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for about one hour, uncovered, until puffed and golden brown. Serve immediately.