Wild Rice Stuffing with Sausage and Fennel | Peggy Lampman's dinnerFeed

Recipe: Wild Rice Stuffing with Sausage and Fennel

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup wild rice
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 pound sweet Italian sausage*
2-3 fennel bulbs (6 cups), stalks removed, halved, cored and thinly sliced
1-2 leeks (2 cups),white and light green parts only, washed well and thinly sliced
2 tart sweet apples, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices (optional)
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Combine stock, rice and fennel seeds in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 45 to 75 minutes, depending on wild rice used. Check and add more stock if needed.
Sauté sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a fork, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to rice, draining fat, if desired, on paper towels.
Add the fennel and leeks to sausage drippings. Sauté 6 minutes, stirring, then reduce heat and stir in apples, if using. Cook until just tender.
Add the cooked rice and sausage to the fennel mixture. (Note you may make this up to 24 hours in advance at this point). Sauté until wild rice mixture until heated through. Stir parsley into rice; stuff into turkey or serve on the side.

*If sausage not available in bulk, purchase in links and remove from casing.

Simmer Time: 45-75 minutes

Active Time: 20 minutes

Number of servings (yield): apx. 16 cups