Spicy Cornbread & Chorizo Stuffing

I first made this Spicy Cornbread & Chorizo Stuffing for Thanksgiving about three years ago, and it's since become one of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. The combination of sweet, slightly nutty cornbread with the spicy, salty chorizo is absolute perfection in my book.

I've made this using both a homemade batch of cornbread (following this easy cornbread recipe) and with store-bought cornbread or even corn muffins, and get amazing results every single time.

One of the nice parts of it is that you don't have to bother toasting the cornbread first. Instead you can just skip it and then bake the cornbread uncovered so that it toasts up in the oven while it bakes.

So much easier!

The base is pretty traditional as far as stuffing goes--onions, celery, garlic--but the addition of fresh minced cilantro at the end gives it a bit of a fresh kick.

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Spicy Cornbread and Chorizo Stuffing

Ingredients
6 cups cornbread cut into 1" cubes
1 pound Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/2" thick slices (not the fresh kind; you want the kind that is already cooked)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
4 celery ribs, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
½ teaspoon ground cayenne
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
1 teaspoon red chile flakes (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a shallow baking dish. Place cornbread cubes in the baking dish.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy skillet, and add the onions, celery, garlic, smoked Spanish paprika, and cayenne and cook for 5 minutes, or until vegetables are all soft. Add the sliced chorizo and continue too cook for another 5 minutes until the chorizo is browned and slightly crisped. Add to the cornbread pieces and toss to coat. Season with salt and black pepper to taste, then spread out in baking dish.

Drizzle with chicken broth, then bake uncovered for 1 hour, or until toasted and golden on top.

Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and red chile flakes, and serve hot.