Bread and Sausage Stuffing

I tried this recipe from the Williams Sonoma cookbook, Entertaining, and loved it! It's definitely what's going inside our bird this Thanksgiving....(o.k. I confess, I don't put the stuffing inside the turkey, so technically it's called dressing)

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf sourdough French bread, about
  1 lb., cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings
  removed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 leek, white and light green portions,
  chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper,
  to taste

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350ºF.

Spread the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. (can be made ahead and stored in ziploc bag)

In a large fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sausage, onion, leek, celery and sage and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the meat browns and is cooked through and the vegetables are translucent, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and fold in the bread cubes, parsley and half-and-half. Stir in the stock until the mixture is evenly moistened. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool completely before stuffing into the cavities of the turkey. Serves 8 to 10.