Apple & Onion GF, Vegan stuffing
Yesterday’s bread is today’s stuffing! Exactly like traditional holiday stuffing, but baked outside the turkey so everyone can enjoy it. Well almost like traditional, we made ours entirely gluten free. We baked a loaf of gluten free caraway flax bread, cut it into cubes, baked them into croutons, seasoned them and baked them in vegetable stock with apples onions and it is delicious!
Stuffing in my house was bread and butter, cooked in a turkey which limits anyone with special diets. The stuffing was always apple and onion stuffing.
When my husband and I had our catering company he taught me how to make stuffing faster and in greater quantity by cooking it outside the bird. That instantly let me know, it can be made vegetarian and vegan to accommodate other eaters. We always made the apple & onion stuffing and it was great hit with our clients. The stuffing is traditional enough to make the everyone happy and yet it is just a little extra delicious so it feels fresh and special.
I don’t know anyone who has a loaf of stale bread laying around. So I had to make mine for this recipe. Luckily, I could tailor the recipe to make the flavours I think would match perfectly with my Apple & Onion Stuffing. Recipe for that loaf is here.
When making croutons, the oil makes them crispy and an important note is that fat is where they flavour comes from so, we need to add the oil. Similarly, the stuffing is made with stock. My chef husband’s blog, (Cookin It Easy) has a great tip on how to make vegetable stock and I suggest you make lots.
When baking the stuffing, parchment lining the casserole dish before you start is a smart step, taught to me by some pro chefs. It makes it simpler to clean up and no scrubbing dishes after a big family meal, you can just through the parchment in the food garbage and wipe the dish clean.
Apple & Onion Vegan, gf Stuffing
Equipment
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- large bowl
- parchment
- casserole dish
Ingredients
- 1 loaf stale bread, about 4 cups
- 2 ½ cup vegetable stock
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 2 each celery
- 1 each onion
- 1 each apple
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground fennel
- ½ tsp caraway seeds
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
Stale bread
- If you have about 4 cups of hearty stale bread laying about then cube it up and let's make some stuffing. If not, then you can go to my last post, Caraway Flax bread and make a loaf of bread or two (if you need more stuffing) and make gluten free bread.
Make croutons
- Cut your bread into cubes about ¾" square
- Put them on a cookie sheet, spray them with oil, sprinkle with ½ tsp salt & ¼ tsp of pepper & ½ tsp of caraway seeds. (You can mix this in a bowl if you don't have spray oil)
- Place in oven on convection at 300° F, turning in 30 minutes. This will bake for an hour to toast depending on the staleness of your bread. They should be crunchy like croutons when they are done.
Prepare
- Dice to ¼" pieces, apples, onions and celery.
- Place in a large bowl, diced apple, onion, celery, spices, salt and pepper.Add the croutons, melt the vegan butter and pour ½ over top and mix, pour the rest over top and mix.Pour 1 ½ cups of stock over the croutons, mix thoroughly, save the rest for adding as you stir it.
- Place all of the mixture in a parchment lined casserole dish.
- Bake in oven at 350° F, stirring every 30 minutes. Adding ½ cup stock if the stuffing is dry and not set like a casserole.The stuffing should be solid, baked like a casserole when ready, those crunchy croutons will be soft.
