Meat Stuffing

I learned this is a French-Canadian recipe.  As I make Tourtières, I guess it's similar to that but crustless.  I like the idea of meat stuffing rather than the carb loaded stuff I dream of.  The problem with bread stuffing is I will eat it all!  At least with this one, I look at it as mostly protein, 😉,  I made this last year and struggled to find the recipe I used, so thought I would blog it so I don't lose it again.  What I used this Thanksgiving:

• 1 lb organic lean ground beef
• 1 lb mild Italian Sausage meat (Johnsonville, I added some red pepper flakes to make it hot)
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 3 stalks of celery, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons savoury spice
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock (Better than Bouillon)
• 1 box "Stovetop" turkey stuffing mix
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Fresh sage, chopped finely, to taste
• Fresh thyme, stripped from stems, to taste
• Handful fresh parsley, chopped finely
• Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Cook beef and sausage in a frying pan.  Drain excess fat but keep some in the pan for vegetables.

Add the butter to the pan. Sauté onions, celery and garlic in butter over low heat for about 5 minutes.  Add savoury & cracked pepper.  Once softened and cooled, add to the large bowl with the meat.  Add the parsley, fresh herbs, eggs, and stuffing mix, stirring to combine. Add the chicken stock, starting with half, and continuing to add a little more if needed to soften.

Pour the mixture into a loaf pan sprayed with cooking oil. You can store in the fridge covered for up to a couple days before baking.  I made mine the day before.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Bake until heated through and lightly brown on top.

To serve it, I sliced it like meatloaf but I was so busy getting dinner ready I didn't take any more pictures.  It had all the stuffing feels 😋 and was delicious smothered in turkey gravy.  I think I could have upped the seasoning a little more, maybe more sage?  But other than that it was perfect and no complaints.  Even my son who doesn't like stuffing doesn't mind this one for some reason.