100% Whole Wheat Stuffing Muffins with Sausage and Parmesan

Ingredients

• 8-9 slices 100% whole wheat bread, cut into cubes about 1/2 inch square
• 12 oz reduced-fat pork sausage
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 1 cup finely diced celery
• 1 T butter or olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 300F/150C.Cut bread into cubes about 1/2 inch square (you need 5 generous cups of bread cubes.)Put bread cubes on a large baking sheet and toast in the oven 10 minutes, then turn the bread over and toast 10 minutes more, or until bread is dried out and very lightly browned.While bread toasts, heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a heavy frying pan, add sausage, and cook until well browned and completely cooked, about 10 minutes. Break the sausage apart with a metal turner as it cooks so you have small pieces to mix throughout the stuffing.Put the browned sausage into a large mixing bowl, then wipe out extra fat from the frying pan with a paper towel. (I “patted” with the paper towel to leave the crumbled pieces of sausage in the pan while wiping out the fat.)Heat 1 T butter or olive oil in the frying pan, then add finely diced onion and celery and cook over medium heat until vegetables are softened and barely starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add dried sage, poultry seasoning, and salt and cook 1-2 minutes more. Add the onion/celery mixture to the mixing bowl.When bread cubes are toasted, add them to mixing bowl and increase oven temperature to 400F/200C. Add Parmesan cheese and mix well so that all the bread cubes are lightly coated with Parmesan.Whisk together the chicken stock and eggs, then add that 1/3 at a time, pouring over the surface of the stuffing mixture each time and then stirring, so all the bread cubes are lightly moistened.Spray metal muffin pan very well with nonstick spray. Use a measuring cup to add heaping 1/3 cup to each muffin cup, pressing down each muffin so it’s well-packed together. (I used the measuring cup to pack down the “muffins”, then pressed them together again with my fingers when they were all filled.)Bake muffins 30 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and they’re hot clear through. (I would start checking after 20 minutes. If you’re going to reheat them when you get to your dinner destination, I’d bake for a shorter time to start and then heat/crisp at a high temperature right before you serve them.)Let cool for about 5 minutes before you remove them from pan, and then use a knife to go around the edge of each “muffin” before you lift them out of the muffin pan.Serve hot, with turkey gravy of course!