Rustic Sausage Dressing

       I wish you could smell my apartment this morning as I am making this tester recipe, it smells AMAZING in here. . .

      There are lots of different kinds of stuffing, and I'm sure as many recipes for each kind are there are grandmother's out there.  Some people are partial to cornbread stuffing, but I find it too loose, crumbly even, it's simply not the texture I like for it.  When you buy the bags of stuffing mix they make great stuffing to be cooked, sliced and put into your leftover sandwiches, but the dressing I like is perfect for soaking up gravy yet it is full of texture and a wonderful flavor that I can never get enough of.
      For me this dressing is all about the bread.  I like using the artisan breads; an herb loaf, honey wheat and sourdough.  If you are making a lot use a mixture (you could just cut some off and save the rest for sandwiches) or use just one loaf.  Dice it into large pieces, roughly 3/4 of an inch.  Then toast them at 325 until they are dry.
In a pan brown
1 LB sage sausage then drain off most of the oil then add
2 cups small diced vegetables - at least half onion, a couple ribs celery, carrots, maybe some fennel (you know the one you probably have left over from the salad).  Cook them down until translucent.  Then add
2 TBS fresh sage, chopped
1 TBS fresh thyme, picked and chopped
1 Tsp fresh ground pepper
a pinch red chili flakes
3 cups stock- by this point I'll have some turkey stock made from the neck, and back bones, and I'll use that, which means I'll need to add salt too, you might use chicken broth from the store, then you'll need to be more careful with the salt, the store bought stuff is pretty salty.
Bring the liquid to a boil and pour over your toasted bread, you will need about
2 quarts toasted bread mixed with
1 stick butter, cubed and softened
mix everything together and and let the stock soak in.  If it is too dry add a bit more stock.  Check for seasoning, especially the salt, if you used a home made stock you'll probably need about 1 TBS Salt, otherwise it just depends on what you kind you decide to use.
      For convenience you can do all of this a day in advance if you like, and just put it on into your casserole dish (I don't like actually stuffing the turkey, in order to get the stuffing hot through you have to over cook the bird).
When it's time to cook it bake it at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Should be crunchy on top and moist underneath.