Margot’s Thanksgiving Morsel Dressing

Serves 6. According to Epicurious the only vegetables you need are onions and celery. I don’t agree. While I do agree that the herbs make it, I also like the crunch of water chestnuts and/or a bit of a pine nuts, but you decide. But there are so many recipes to satisfy the savory-loving (sausage or bacon) and the sweet-loving (golden raisin or dried cherries) families. Anyway you choose to do yours, the family loves mine and I’m all about sharing. So, here’s the base for adding whatever your family loves.

Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish

• 1 package of Margot’s Morsels Ultimate Thanksgiving mix (9 oz.)

• 1 cup celery stalks chopped (1/4” slice)

• 1 medium chopped yellow onion

• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

• Herbs: we’ve added herbs to Margot's Morsels Ultimate Thanksgiving Mix but no reason you couldn’t add more of your favorites (1-2 tablespoons of fresh)

• 2-3 cups of low-sodium chicken broth or more as needed, feel free to use vegetable stock or turkey stock, if you prefer

• 2 eggs

More Flavor Bits

Here’s where it gets interesting, any of the following in combination, or just one for a touch of richness:

• Meat: A lovely sweet Italian sausage, of your choice, or thick slab bacon (depending on your taste) cooked before adding

• Sliced sauteed mushrooms, in butter/olive oil/white wine roasted until soft and moisture is released

• Water chestnuts or pine nuts

• Apples, Dried cherries, dried cranberries or golden raisins for sweetness

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Use 1/2 the butter to grease a 4-6 quart baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix Margot’s Morsels with 1½ cups of the stock. Let it sit for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every once in a while. Mixture will soften, and as you add other ingredients along with their liquid, it will soften it even more. 

Heat a large skillet to medium heat, add your remaining butter. Add onions and celery, stirring often until the vegetables are just beginning to be translucent (10 minutes, max). Add this mixture to the bowl of morsels along with herbs, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.

Whisk your eggs into the remaining cooled stock. Fold this into your morsel mixture and spread the entire mixture in your baking dish. The mixture should be wet. You can make this ahead of time and cook the next day.

Make sure your dressing mixture is at room temperature before baking, cover with foil, and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of dressing registers 160°F, about 40 minutes. At this point, uncover and bake another 15-20 minutes until the top is browned and crispy.

Now enjoy your family!