Leek, Kale & Caramelized Onion Stuffing
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Stuffing is of course one of the best Thanksgiving (or any holiday, for that matter) side dishes. I usually make a stuffing that has sausage in it (it's delicious!) but I often have vegetarian guests, or guests who can't eat pork. As a result I've had to come up with an equally delicious meatless stuffing. It has a really delicious flavor and is packed with hearty greens and vegetables, and the caramelized onions add a depth of flavor and sweetness that makes this stuffing really special.
The entire dish can be prepped, up to the baking step, days or weeks in advance and frozen until the big day. If you aren't freezing it ahead of time, you can assemble it up to the baking step the day or two before thanksgiving and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake it on thanksgiving. If you're doing it in advance (either freezing or refrigerating a day or two ahead), you'll want to add about 1/2 cup more stock over the top of the prepared baking dish before baking, to make sure it doesn't dry out.
I use fresh bread and toast it for this one, which I prefer to using stale bread, because it keeps more of the delicious fresh made bread flavor. If you want to keep this recipe vegan, skip the butter in the onion caramelizing step and sub 2 more tablespoons of olive oil. You could also totally use GF bread to make this dish GF, just try to find a bread that most closely resembles a sourdough or country loaf.
Serves 8.
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400F. Tear or cut your bread into ~1inch pieces and place the torn bread onto a large baking sheet. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of the kosher salt and toss together well with your hands to coat the bread in the oil. Spread it in as even a layer as you can.
Place it in the preheated oven and toast for ~15 minutes until the pieces of bread are nice and golden all over. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
While the bread is toasting, start caramelizing the onions. Slice your onions (if not already done). Heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and the 4 tablespoons of butter (or more olive oil) in a large sauté pan or pot over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and foaming, add the sliced onions + 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized (~20-25 mins). Add the sliced leek, the chopped kale, the chopped celery and carrot to the pan. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 more tablespoon of olive oil and cook the onion and kale mixture until the leeks & vegetables are beginning to soften and the kale is just starting to wilt, ~4-5 minutes.
Add the toasted pieces of bread to the pot or large pan with the vegetables, and add the 2 cups vegetable stock and the final 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir to combine everything well. Taste and add more kosher salt or black pepper to taste. If it seems really dry, add a splash more of stock.
Transfer the bread and vegetable mixture to a 9x13 baking dish. You can wrap and freeze the dish here (once it has cooled down) if you are making it far in advance. You can also wrap and refrigerate it if you're making it a day ahead.
To cook right away (or the day after refrigerated): Heat your oven to 350F and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the pieces of bread are deeply golden brown.
If you're baking straight from frozen: Heat your oven to 350. Cover the top of your baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour with the top covered in foil. After 1 hour, remove the foil and continue to cook until golden for another 15-20 minutes.