Oyster Stuffing With Fennel, Tarragon, and Sausage Recipe (2024)

• 2 pounds (1 kg; about 2 loaves) high-quality sandwich bread or soft Italian or French bread, cut into 3/4-inch dice, about 5 quarts

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• 1 stick unsalted butter (113g), plus more for greasing dish

• 1 pound (500g) sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing

• 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups; 300g)

• 2 large stalks celery, finely chopped (about 1 cup; 200g)

• 1/2 medium fennel bulb, finely chopped (about 1 cup; 200g)

• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons; 10g)

• 1 teaspoon mincedfresh thyme leaves

• 3 cupshomemade chicken stockor low-sodium broth (700ml), divided

• 3 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons mincedfresh tarragon

• 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley leaves (about 1/4 ounce; 8g), divided

• 2 cups raw oysters and their liquor (470ml; about 32 medium oysters), oysters chopped (see notes)

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions. Preheat oven to 275°F. Spread bread evenly over 2 rimmed baking sheets. Stagger sheets on oven racks and bake until bread is completely dried, about 50 minutes total, rotating sheets and stirring bread cubes several times during baking. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Increase oven temperature to 350°F.

2. In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat until foaming subsides, without allowing butter to brown, about 2 minutes. Add sausage and mash with stiff whisk or potato masher to break up into fine pieces (largest pieces should be no bigger than 1/4 inch). Cook, stirring frequently, until only a few bits of pink remain, about 8 minutes. Add onion, celery, fennel, garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add half of chicken stock.

   

3. Whisk remaining chicken stock, eggs, tarragon, and 3 tablespoons parsley in a medium bowl until hom*ogeneous. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, slowly pour egg mixture into sausage mixture. Add bread cubes, oysters, and oyster liquor and fold gently until evenly mixed. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

   

4. Transfer stuffing to a buttered 9- by 13-inch rectangular baking dish (or 10- by 14-inch oval dish) and bake until browned on top and an instant read-thermometer reads 150°F when inserted into center of dish, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, sprinkle with remaining parsley, and serve.

   

Special equipment

Two rimmed baking sheets, 9- by 13-inch rectangular baking dish (or 10- by 14-inch oval dish), stiff wire whisk or potato masher, instant-read thermometer

Notes

You can shuck your own fresh oysters (see the video above for instructions), ask your fishmonger to do it, or buy containers of raw shucked oysters. Our tests showed that the stuffing tastes just as good with pre-shucked oysters as with freshly shucked. The easiest way to chop the oysters is to snip them in a container using kitchen shears; that way you don't lose their juices to the cutting board.

This Recipe Appears In

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