Vegetarian Stuffing with Mushroom, Date, and Pecans
The perfect balance of sweet and savory and the perfect texture of moist stuffing with sweet dates, savory mushroom, and crunchy pecans with a toasty top. This stuffing will be loved by vegetarian and meat lovers.
Keywordmushroom date stuffing, vegetarian stuffing
Prep Time30 minutesminutes
Cook Time30 minutesminutes
Servings8
Equipment
Large baking sheet
small baking sheet
large skillet
extra large mixing bowl
9x11 oven proof baking dish
Ingredients
8cupscubed crusty breadit can be sourdough, ciabatta or baguette.
28ozcontainers of white button mushroomsabout 4 cups of quartered mushrooms
1 1/2cupchopped celery about 3 large stalks
1 1/2 cupchopped onion about 1 onion
4garlic clovesabout 2 tablespoons
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1stickunsalted butter
2cupsvegetable stock
extra virgin olive oilabout 4 tablespoons total (2 for the butter, 2 for coating the baking dish.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Cut the bread in 2 inch cubes.
Place the bread cubes in a large cooking sheet. Make sure it is spread evenly and not too over crowded.
Toast the bread in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Check occasionally to prevent it from burning.
Place the pecans on a cooking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes.
Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel to clean any dirt.
Discard the stem and cut into quarters.
Set the mushrooms aside and chop the celery and onion. Set aside.
Finely chop the garlic and dates, set them aside separately from the celery and onions.
In a large skillet, melt the butter and about 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil.
Once the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
Cook the mushrooms for 5-7 minutes or until they start getting golden.
Once the mushrooms are starting to get golden brown, add the celery and onion. Cook until the onion has become translucent.
Add the garlic and the dates and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
The dates can clump up, make sure to mix everything well so that they are evenly distributed.
Remove the mixture from the heat and pour into a large mixing bowl.
Add the vegetable stock into the pan where the vegetables were just coking. This will warm up the stock. No need to add heat to this.
Add the pecans to the vegetable mixture. Mix in well.
Add half of the toasted bread into the vegetable mixture. Mix in well.
Add half of the liquid into the bread and vegetable mixture. Mix well, all the while smooshing and breaking the bread apart so that it can absorb all the moisture from the vegetables and the stock.
Add the other half of the bread and continue to incorporate into the mixture.
Add the left over liquid litter by little until you achieve the desired consistency.
Add enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the sides and bottom a baking dish.
Add the entire stuffing mixture into the dish and press down so it is even.
Bake in the 350° preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden on the top.
ENJOY!
Recipe Video Instructions
Notes
If you prefer a firmly packed stuffing, add all the liquid and make sure to break the bread apart and mix so much that it all becomes one even mixture of ingredients. If you prefer a stuffing where the bread is not compacted but it’s toasty and more dry, then add enough liquid that the mixture is moist all around but it it not mush.