Sausage, Fennel, and Wild Rice Dressing

3 December 2008

I know it’s almost a week after Thanksgiving, but for posterity, my favorite dressing recipe.

• 3 cups water
• 3/4 cup jumbo-grade wild rice, rinsed
• 3 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 4-5 links of sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 2 cups finely chopped yellow onion
• 2 cups finely chopped fennel bulb
• 1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1 French boule (roughly 20 oz), cut into 1/2-inch cubes and toasted at 350 degrees until lightly brown (as you would for croutons)
• 1 jar (15 oz.) steamed chestnuts (chopped)
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1. In a heavy pot, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the wild rice and 1 tsp. of the salt. Cover, reduce the heat to a fast simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender, about 45-50 minutes. Drain the rice and let cool.
2. Preheat an oven to 325°F. Generously butter a large, shallow baking dish.
3. In a large fry pan over medium heat, cook sausage until brown. Remove sausage from pan with a slotted spoon. In the pan, melt the butter. Add the onion, chopped fennel, poultry seasoning, thyme and fennel seeds. Scrape the brown bits from the pan as the vegetables give off enough moisture to do so. Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add sausage. Let cool.
4. In a large bowl, combine the bread, chestnuts, the onion mixture and the wild rice. In another bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Whisk the stock into the eggs, then stir the egg mixture into the bowl with the bread mixture. Stir in the parsley, the remaining 2 tsp. salt and the pepper.
5. Spoon the dressing into the prepared baking dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake until the dressing is lightly browned on top, 20 to 30 minutes more. Serves 10.

NOTE: you can prepare the wild rice, onion and sausage mixture, and croutons separately the day before. Be sure to bring the ingredients to room temperature by taking them out of the fridge one hour before assembling the dressing (step 5).