Classic Vegetarian Bread Stuffing

By Michinthekitch

Thanksgiving can be a feast for everyone, even if you don't eat meat. Please everyone this Thanksgiving with this Classic Vegetarian Bread Stuffing.

Ingredients

• 15 cups of 1/2˝ bread cubes, I usually have challah, wholegrain and ciabatta in my bread bin
• 1/4 cup butter and 1 tablespoon cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 very large onion, very finely diced, roughly 2 1/2 cups
• 2 stalks celery, very finely diced, roughly 1/2 cup
• 2 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
• 2 generous tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 1/2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley
• 2 1/2 cups high-quality vegetable stock, divided

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread the bread cubes out on two cookie sheets and bake for about ten minutes or until a bit dried out, not browned.

Meanwhile, heat the 1/4 cup of butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add the onion, celery, fennel and celery seeds, rosemary, salt and pepper and sweat the mixture for 20 minutes, keeping the heat low enough so that the vegetables don’t color – you just want them to get soft and sweet. Turn off the heat, add the parsley and let the mixture cool for about ten minutes in the pan. Add the bread cubes and 2 cups of stock; stir to evenly distribute. Let the mixture sit for about an hour to let the flavors really get into everything (now’s a good time to work on your other Thanksgiving dishes).

Reserve two cups of the stuffing for the turkey if desired.

Set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the stuffing into an ovenproof baking dish (you could even leave it in your sauté pan if it doesn’t have plastic handles – one less thing to wash). Pour over the remaining stock and dot with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.