Easy Sausage and Herb Stuffing

I always made my mother's stuffing recipe which came right off the Pepperidge Farm bag.  This year because I wanted the stuffing to be baked separately with a crunchy top, I found this which looked similar yet slightly different.  We wanted to keep Thanksgiving as simple as possible with recipes we all remembered.  I bought the Italian sausage in bulk at our local butcher, so delicious.  So easy to prepare ahead of time, I will make this again and again.

8 cups (14 oz.) store bought UNSEASONED stuffing cubes (I used Brownberry)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion (1 large)
1 cup diced celery (3 stalks)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
2 3/4 cups organic chicken broth
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with butter.

Place the stuffing cubes in a large bowl.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter.  Add the onions and celery and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more.  Add the vegetables to the stuffing cubes.  

Wipe the pan and cook the sausage over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until browned and cooked through.  Break up the sausage with a fork while cooking.  Make sure they are in small pieces.  Add the browned sausage to the bread cubes and vegetables.

Add the chicken broth, egg, rosemary, sage, parsley, salt and pepper to the bread cube mixture and mix until the bread is soft and moistened.  Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and bake for 65 minutes, uncovered, until deeply golden and crisp on top.