Mrs. Cinquino's Italian Sausage Stuffing

A personal favorite

Ingredients:

1 Large bag of cubed bread crumbs (about 8 - 12 cups), preferably white. But you can also use organic whole wheat ones, or make your own.

1 onion, chopped

1 whole celery, chopped (raw fennel is good too!)

3 Tablespoons poultry seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste (extra pepper is good)

Fresh parsley

1 pound hot Italian sausage, raw

½ stick of butter

1 cup milk (or more as needed)

1 cup chicken broth (or more as needed)

Directions:

1: Put all the ingredients into a big bowl except for the butter, milk, and broth. Take the raw sausage out of its casing, slice, and mix it in.

2: Put the broth, butter, and milk into a sauce pot and heat until the butter melts. (If you are going to cook the stuffing in the turkey, leave out the broth.)

3: When the butter is melted and the liquid is warm, pour it over the mixture in the bowl, adding enough to make it really moist--soggy even, but not dripping.

4: Place the mixture into a casserole dish. Put it into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or so--until the top is golden and the sausage fat is bubbling at the edges.

This must be served with gravy. And it's best when there is a peppery bite to it.