Thanksgiving dinner in a state with as many unique eats as Rhode Island should not be boring! That’s why I created a recipe for Stuffie Turkey Stuffing, an adaption of the popular R.I. appetizer that are made from bread crumbs, butter, celery, onion and thyme (in other words, stuffing!) along with chourico sausage and quahog clam — like oyster or sausage stuffing! (See more on my thinking behind this recipe in this blog post on Hey Rhody.com.)
Since most stuffies are made with supermarket bread crumbs, I recommend using croutons versus cubed fresh bread for this stuffing. The texture will also be more stuffie-like when cooked outside the bird.
Also note (and heed!) the instructions to use no-salt butter and broth: The clams and sausage will provide all the salt you need!
- ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
- ½ cup red, orange or yellow bell pepper, finely diced
- 1/3 to ½ pound Portuguese chourico or hot linguica, casing removed and finely diced (see note)
- ¾ cup celery, finely diced
- ¾ cup onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ to 2 cups quahog or other clam meat, cut into ½ inch pieces (from 12 to 16 quahogs)
- 6 cups homemade bread croutons or 1 (12- to 14-ounce) bag of unseasoned bread croutons or stuffing (see note)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Up to 2 ¼ cups clam juice (bottled or from your clams) or no-sodium chicken broth or some combination
- Paprika for sprinkling
If you’re making your own croutons: Tear 16 slices of fresh white bread into 8 cups of half-inch pieces. Place bread pieces in a bowl with a quarter cup olive oil and toss to thoroughly combine. Place in a single layer on ungreased baking sheets and bake in a 350-degree F oven, stirring occasionally, until most of the bread is brown and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes. (The pieces will continue to cook as they cool.) Set aside what should be about 6 cups of croutons.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper and sausage, cooking until sausage browns and pepper softens (about 3 minutes). Stir in celery and cook for another minute, followed by onion and garlic. Cook until onion and garlic begin to brown. Add the clam pieces and cook just until warmed, about another two minutes.
Fold in the croutons, thyme and parsley. Add clam juice and/or chicken broth a little at a time and only as much as makes the croutons swell and the mixture moist, but not sopping wet.
Spoon the stuffing into a buttered 3-quart casserole or 9×13-inch dish. Sprinkle with paprika, cover with foil, and bake at 350°F for a total of about 45 minutes. Remove the foil after the first 20 minutes and continue baking for an additional 15-25 minutes, or until the stuffing is brown and bubbling.
Serve with lemon, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
Note: If you can’t find chourico or linguica, andouille, spicy kielbasa or Spanish chorizo are good substitutes. If you can’t find ready made plain bread croutons or stuffing and don’t want to make your own, use seasoned and omit the thyme and parsley in this recipe. If you want to cook this stuffing in your turkey, use all clam juice and just enough of it to hold the stuffing together.
Yield: 6-9 side dish servings or enough to stuff a 12-pound turkey