Wild Rice and Sausage Stuffing

"A picture of this dish should be in the dictionary under "savory". Made this a few times, years ago, to rave reviews and have been looking for the recipe ever since. Found it. I recommend baking it separately in a casserole and don't wait for a holiday. This is good anytime. If you prefer, leave out the bacon and sausage, it's still great. Cooking wild rice is not included in prep or cook times."
 
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photo by a food.com user photo by a food.com user
Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Crumble and cook the sausage, drain and set aside.
  • Wipe out skillet and add bacon, onion, mushrooms and celery; saute until bacon is crisp and vegetables are slightly softened.
  • Add this to the wild rice, along with the oregano, sage and bread crumbs; add cooked sausage; add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Bake, covered, in an oiled casserole at 350° for 30-40 minutes; add 1/4 to 1/2 cup stock, if needed, for moisture.

Questions & Replies

  1. can i make this a day before i bake it
     
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Reviews

  1. If you want to taste the other ingredients, limit or omit the oregano. One teaspoon just overwhelms the dish.
     
  2. I’ve been making this for years but was curious if there was a similar recipe online. No oregano though. I use Italian sausage and add dried cranberries for zing.
     
  3. This was liked by all at our Thanksgiving get-together, even one who doesn't usually like mushrooms. I used regular breakfast sausage because I had some on hand and Newfie Savoury instead of leaf oregano. I will try this recipe again with a zippier sausage to add to the savoury flavour. Thank you, sugarpea, for adding this to Zaar.
     
  4. This recipe has become our holiday standard. I tried it last year and searched for ages before I found it again this year - so thankful I found it! I substitute Poultry Seasoning for the spices - it comes out beautifully. I also use Portabella mushrooms in place of regular mushrooms, and spicy Italian pork sausage instead of mild. I also find that adding raw celery pieces gives it a very nice satisfying crunchy texture (use 1/2 celery as per recipe, add in the other half when combining ingredients). As someone diagnosed with Celiac disease in early adulthood I always felt deprived that I couldn't have the traditional bread stuffing. Most years I would indulge and just suffer afterwards. I finally stumbled upon this recipe which I used in the neck cavity (just use more wild rice instead of breadcrumbs), bread stuffing in the larger cavity for everyone else. It turns out this is such a hit that now this is all we use!
     
  5. The flavor of this dish is fantastic! I made this for my first Thanksgiving in Japan and altered a few ingredients due to availability here. I made my own chicken sausage since pork sausage is hard to find. I used Japanese rice instead of wild rice, and shiitake mushrooms which added a wonderful richness and smoky flavor. I did leave out the oregano completely, and also used panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). The flavor was still all there -- amazing. Someone get me away from the leftovers!
     
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Tweaks

  1. This recipe has become our holiday standard. I tried it last year and searched for ages before I found it again this year - so thankful I found it! I substitute Poultry Seasoning for the spices - it comes out beautifully. I also use Portabella mushrooms in place of regular mushrooms, and spicy Italian pork sausage instead of mild. I also find that adding raw celery pieces gives it a very nice satisfying crunchy texture (use 1/2 celery as per recipe, add in the other half when combining ingredients). As someone diagnosed with Celiac disease in early adulthood I always felt deprived that I couldn't have the traditional bread stuffing. Most years I would indulge and just suffer afterwards. I finally stumbled upon this recipe which I used in the neck cavity (just use more wild rice instead of breadcrumbs), bread stuffing in the larger cavity for everyone else. It turns out this is such a hit that now this is all we use!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I’m a former interior designer and landscape designer. At the moment I get to enjoy being at home and working only when I want to. I like rollerblading, hiking, backpacking and trips to the ocean. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and moved to the Northwest when I was thirty, over twenty years ago. I’m afraid they’ll have to bury me here in WA. This is God’s country and I’m never leaving. I have a smallish collection of cookbooks, preferring to use the library and a copy machine. Among my favorites though, are: Recipes 1-2-3, by Rozanne Gold, a collection of recipes containing no more than 3 ingredients (excepting water, salt and pepper); A Treasury of Great Recipes, by Mary and Vincent Price, recipes collected from friends and chefs of great restaurants around the world; The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins, about a collection of cuisines I’m convinced are the healthiest in the world and The Low-Calorie Gourmet, by Pierre Franey. Currently my passions are our dogs, the garden, cooking, the natural world and of course, Dh. I can now add Zaar to that list of passions (translate: addiction). We have three dogs, two rescued and one adopted. They are Sugarpea, a Golden Retriever, Chickpea, a Llasa Apso and Sweetpea, a Shih Tzu; small, medium and large. We’re quite a sight out on the trail. One of the things I am most fond of about living here is the ability to vegetable garden year ‘round.
 
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