Serves a Crowd

Ciabatta Stuffing with Chorizo, Sweet Potato, and Mushrooms

by:
November  6, 2009
5
5 Ratings
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Serves 6-8
Author Notes

My favorite lazy Sunday morning breakfast is a quick hash made from sauteed chorizo, sweet potato, red onion, shiitake mushrooms, and rosemary, topped with a fried egg or two. I decided to incorporate those flavors into a stuffing fit for the Thanksgiving table. Not only is it a great side for the turkey but the leftovers still rock for breakfast the next morning topped with an egg. —melissav

Test Kitchen Notes

Melissav has bucked tradition with this recipe, and we're all for it. She starts with homemade garlic herb croutons and recommends nibbling on them as you cook. Then you saute chorizo until crisp, followed by sliced shiitakes, which take on a russet hue as they absorb the paprika-tinted fat from the sausage. Red onion and sweet potato are gently caramelized, and finally everything is tossed together with some stock and an egg and baked. At the last minute you broil the stuffing so that the crust becomes crunchy and golden while everything underneath stays soft and tender. The contrasting flavors of the salty chorizo (you can use hot or sweet) and rich sweet potato really complement each other, and we love the variety of textures in the finished stuffing. At melissav's recommendation, we tried some the next day with a fried egg on top; all of a sudden leftovers got a whole lot more exciting. - A&M —The Editors

Continue After Advertisement
Ingredients
  • 9 cups Ciabatta bread, cubed into 1 inch pieces
  • 14 sage leaves, divided into 4 and 10, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons rosemary
  • 2 garlic cloves, pressed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 3 cups sweet potato, small dice (about 1 large potato)
  • 5 cups shiitake mushrooms (or your favorite mix), sliced
  • 1 cup dried chorizo, small dice
  • 2 - 2.5 cups chicken or turkey stock (or broth)
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tablespoons melted fat - butter, schmaltz, or turkey drippings
  • Salt & pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Toss the bread cubes with 4 sages leaves, rosemary, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and bake until golden and toasty. Remove from oven and put in large bowl or container. [They are great for a little snack as you continue with the recipe.]
  3. In a large pan, saute the chorizo in a little olive oil until golden. The chorizo is already cooked but I like to render the fat and get it a little crispy. Remove chorizo with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the bread.
  4. Next, saute the mushrooms in the chorizo fat (adding a little olive oil if necessary) and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove to bowl with bread.
  5. Next, add some olive oil as the mushrooms most definitely sucked up all the fat. Saute the onion until soft and golden and add salt and pepper to taste. Add to the bowl with the bread.
  6. Lastly, saute the sweet potato (adding oil as necessary) and salt and pepper to taste. You don't need to cook the potato through as it will cook in the oven but I like to get a little color on it.
  7. Whisk 2 cups of stock or broth with the egg and salt and pepper. Pour into the bowl of bread, etc., add the remaining sage, 2 TB of the fat, and toss throughly until evenly moistened. You may need to add up to an additional 1/2 cup of stock but don't overdo it. You have been seasoning all along but you may want to taste for seasoning and adjust the salt and pepper.
  8. Pour into a baking dish -- a 9 x 13 or an oval gratin pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. This allows the bread to really absorb the stock and makes for a moist interior and crunchy top (or at least that is what I once read in Food & Wine and it seems to hold true).
  9. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil, brush top with remaining 2 TB fat, and bake for 15 more minutes. I like to broil the top for the last few minutes so the top gets nice and crispy but be sure to watch it carefully.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

76 Reviews

jifferb November 10, 2023
Getting ready for thanksgiving dinner and this is by far a) the most delicious stuffing ever/no need to make any other ever til the end of time and b) my favorite thing on the table. Also, almost better the next day covered in the Food52 mushroom thyme gravy, a fried egg and hot sauce. Actually I love this more than thanksgiving dinner… can’t wait!
ChrisCas November 21, 2019
This recipe hits some of my favorites, Chorizo, Sweet Potato's and mushrooms with Ciabatta... Cant wait to try it out this weekend...Also so glad I found this.. https://rebrand.ly/metabolic-cooking-7fd83 Some delicious and healthy recipes here too, hope this helps someone else!!
Jay December 21, 2017
I make this every year for our huge family Christmas. Everybody loves it (except Uncle Grumpy who hates mushrooms. Lol) great recipe.
Rosalba November 14, 2017
what was the brand of chorizo that was used?
juliunruly November 19, 2017
You can use any brand of *spanish* chorizo. The harder stuff. You don't want the Mexican style for this dish, it's too mushy.
Therese November 29, 2016
Made for Thanksgiving 2016 and we were all underwhelmed. It was good but didn't go well with our Thanksgiving dinner. Still searching for a good stuffing recipe.
alila November 28, 2014
Wow! This was fantastic! So so flavorful. Our new go stuffing for Thanksgiving for sure. We pretty much stayed to the recipe.
Mike November 27, 2014
Just finished making this. Looks incredible, can't wait for the turkey to finish!
http://i.imgur.com/qkeMjE4.jpg
Lindsay C. November 26, 2014
Just finished assembling parts 1-8 and can't wait to bake it off tomorrow with our turkey. Everything tasted so good just by itself! Thanks!
ortolan November 26, 2014
I'm so excited to make this! I'm using duck fat (because I have it in the fridge) and am adding in an oriental sweet potato to make this dish even more earthy and sweet. Will report back and how it goes!
juliunruly November 30, 2013
I can't imagine ever making another stuffing recipe again. I've made this three years in a row now and it's consistently my favorite part of thanksgiving dinner. I'm going to have to start making twice or three times as much, because everyone has caught on how delicious it is the next morning with fried or poached eggs, so everyone takes lots of leftovers. This year I made it the day before and just let it soak overnight. Baked it up right after the turkey came out of the oven. It was glorious.
TerriCooks November 25, 2012
We made this for the first time yesterday. We used a half a tube of Mexican chorizo instead of the cured chorizo. It was absolutely wonderful. The spiciness of the chorizo perfectly complimented the sweetness of the potatoes and the earthiness of the mushrooms.
Hollyeve November 24, 2012
I made this for the first time this year and it was a huge hit. I couldn't find Chorizo or Shiitake Mushrooms, so I used ground pork and added some ground hot peppers from my sister and used Baby Bella mushrooms instead. Everyone took multiple helpings and we finished it the next day! I will definitely make this again next year and will make sure I fine Chorizo and Shiitake mushrooms.
AntoniaJames November 23, 2012
Made this again this year. Used plaint white mushrooms instead of shitakes, and for the bread, several artisan breads I'd made earlier in the week, including ChezSuzanne's Rosemary Stout Ciabatta Bread, made with Lagunitas IPA. My family loves this stuffing, and will be quite happily be enjoying the leftovers for the next few days! ;o)
AnnieHynes November 20, 2012
Just bought the ingredients for my 2 nd year! Any advice about bringing it somewhere? Can I make 24 hours in advance?
patricks November 20, 2012
This will be my third year serving this stuffing without augmentation...beautiful and yummy...thx melissav.
jifferb November 20, 2012
Ditto! Love it!!
AntoniaJames November 20, 2012
Our third year, too! My sons happily devour this stuff , but always reserve enough for breakfast, topped with a runny-yolk egg. ;o)
Lindsay C. November 8, 2012
Does anyone know if I could substitute butternut squash for the sweet potatoes? I already have my heart set on doing the Food52 cider-glazed sweet potatoes with bacon, pecans and blue cheese.
Lindsay C. November 12, 2012
Adapted this recipe with small-diced butternut squash, as mentioned above, and it was delicious. Also my husband bought the wrong kind of chorizo, so I drained it on paper towels before adding it to the mix. Did a combo of oyster, shiitake and baby bella mushrooms -- all very tasty. I highly recommend this stuffing!
LeBec F. January 18, 2012
This is a BRILliant recipe. You know what else you could do with this mixture? Make chicken or turkey pot pies with it!:
Add a bit of egg and form balls. Drape cooked chicken or tukey over it; pour some thick rich gravy over all and top with a cream cheese pastry crust. Bake or Freeze and bake later! Thanks so much for this great inspiration!
apsingh November 26, 2011
This went over exceptionally well at our thanksgiving table. Did not make any changes, but I did drain a little bit of the liquid before putting it into the casserole dish because my mushrooms gave off a lot of water and I didn't drain the pan before I added them in.
Also put it in the fridge the day before, brought to room temp the next day and it was perfect.
BigBear November 25, 2011
I had some of this for breakfast, with a fried egg. It was so good.
Ms. T. November 25, 2011
This was a wonderful addition to our thanksgiving meal! I never would have thought to add sweet potatoes to stuffing but it's such a lovely combo. I used fresh chorizo (because I didn't look at the recipe closely enough until I got home from the store) and it turned out great. Really looking forward to those leftovers!