SAVORY SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOM STUFFING

"You have to look awfully hard to find someone who doesn't love sausage-stuffed mushroom caps...or this stuffing for turkey or stuffed vegetables, especially eggplant or mushroom caps."

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound sweet Italian pork or turkey sausage, casings removed
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
3/4 pound brown Italian mushrooms (cremini), sliced
10 cups fresh bread crumbs, made from day-old Italian bread (about 1 pound)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups turkey or chicken broth, as needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook, uncovered, stirring often, until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add the sausage, basil, and marjoram. Cook, stirring often and breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the sausage is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Scrape into a large bowl.

2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the mushrooms. Cook, uncovered, until the mushrooms give off their juices, they evaporate, and the mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms to the sausage in the bowl. Mix in the bread crumbs, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Gradually stir in about 1 1/2 cups of broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Use as a stuffing. Or place in a lightly buttered casserole, drizzle with 1/2 cup broth, cover, and bake as a side dish.

Makes about 8 cups
Excerpted from 50 Best Stuffings and Dressings by Rick Rodgers
Copyright © 1997 by Rick Rodgers. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.