Cornbread, Sausage, and Pecan Dressing

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter plus more for baking dish
• 1 pound day-old cornbread
• broken into 1 1/2"-2" pieces (9 cups)
• 1 pound breakfast sausage links
• casings removed
• 2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 1 1/2 cups 1/4" slices celery
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• divided
• 1 1/4 cups chopped toasted pecans (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs

Instructions

1. 1

   Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 250°F.

2. 2

   Butter a 13x9x2" baking dish; set aside.

3. 3

   Scatter cornbread in a single layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets.

4. 4

   Bake, stirring often and rotating sheets halfway through, until dried out, about 1 hour.

5. 5

   Transfer to a very large mixing bowl.

6. 6

   Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up into 1/2"-1" pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned, 8-10 minutes.

7. 7

   Transfer to bowl with cornbread but do not stir.

8. 8

   Heat 3/4 cup butter in same skillet; add onions and celery and cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

9. 9

   Add to cornbread in bowl.

10. 10

    Return skillet to heat.

11. 11

    Add vinegar; cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan, for 1 minute.

12. 12

    Pour into bowl with cornbread.

13. 13

    Gently fold in 1 1/2 cups broth, pecans, if using, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

14. 14

    Add salt and pepper.

15. 15

    Preheat oven to 350°F.