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Cornbread Stuffing With Leeks, Sausage, & Pears

This cornbread stuffing hits all the Thanksgiving flavor must-haves like corn, thyme, sausage, and pears. I know, I know, pears aren't super common in stuffing, but they *should* be. Their sweet flavor contrasts perfectly with the savory rich ground pork sausage, and the herbal comfort of the thyme leaves.

Course Side Dish
Keyword stuffing
Servings 8 people
Calories 492 kcal

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces breakfast sausage
  • 8 tablespoons  Challenge Unsalted Butter
  • 1 small yellow onion chopped
  • 1 stick celery chopped
  • 1 leek chopped
  • 1 pound cornbread crumbled
  • 1 ripe pear peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken broth if using low sodium broth, add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the recipe
  • flake kosher sea salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sautée the sausage in a cast iron skillet until mostly cooked, breaking it apart with the end of your spoon so it cooks into smaller bits. Remove the sausage and set aside, leaving the juices in the cast iron skillet.

  2. Add the butter, onion, celery, and leeks and sauté until the onions and leeks have just started to turn light gold around the edges, stirring every 5 minutes.

  3. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the cornbread, pear, rosemary, sage, thyme, and black pepper. Stir until until evenly dispersed, and add the chicken broth, pouring it over the whole mixture. Stir the stuffing one or two times to spread the broth throughout.

  4. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges of the top of the cornbread are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.