Italian Bread Stuffing with Sausage

Servings:10

• 8 cups unseasoned bread stuffing or Italian bread
• 1  1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 cups diced onion (1 large or 2 small onions)
• 1 cup diced celery 
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage (sausage with the casings removed)
• 2-3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter.
2. Place the stuffing broken up in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add  onions, celery cook over medium heat, mix occasionally, for 10 minutes, making sure vegetables are soft, add the garlic cook 3 minutes extra. Add the onion mixture to the stuffing bread. (Scrape out all onion mix so they will burn during the next step.
4. In the same pan, cook the sausage over medium heat for 10 minutes until brown and cooked, breaking up the sausage while cooking (pieces should be no bigger than 1/4-inch). Add the sausage and fat to the bread mixture and onion mix.

1. Add the chicken broth, egg, rosemary, sage, parsley, salt and pepper to the bread  mixture and mix until the bread is soft and moistened. Transfer  stuffing in prepared baking dish and bake for 60-75 minutes. Cook uncovered until golden and crisp on top.
2. Make Ahead:  You can prepare ahead. assemble and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake, up to two days ahead of time. You can also bake the stuffing up to two days ahead and refrigerate. To reheat, cover with foil and place in a 325°F oven for 25  minutes until hot.