Ingredients
2 pounds bread
2 onions
12 oz carrots
olive oil and/or butter
salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon each of dried rosemary, sage, thyme
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 bunch fresh parsley
4 oz walnuts
Details
This is classic stuffing, also known as dressing, originally intended to be stuffed in a bird while baking. I don't recommend that, because it creates a risk of food poisoning, and more important, it soaks up juices that will greatly improve the
gravy.
For the bread, I like to buy or
make two loaves of different kinds of sourdough, and use about a pound of each loaf.
First, cut the bread up into cubes, put it on a couple big trays in the oven, and toast it for about an hour at about 250 (120 C). This will drive out the flavorless water and make room to replace it with broth.
Next, cut up the onions, and cook them with the oil in a covered pan on the stove. When the onions are mostly soft, throw in the carrots and also the dried spices, including salt and pepper. If you're using dried parsley instead of fresh parsley, add it now, two or three tablespoons. You could also add mushrooms here, or other vegetables.
When the carrots are soft, move everything to a big pot, and add the broth. I use a mix of water and Better Than Bouillon. You can also make your own broth ahead of time by stewing meat or vegetable scraps.
Now add the bread, and stir it around until the bread has soaked up all the broth. If any bread is still crunchy, add more broth.
Chop the parsley, toast the walnuts lightly in oil, and mix them in.
Before serving, it's good to put the stuffing in a 9x13 pan and bake it in the oven for 20 minutes or so, to brown the top.
(last updated November 2018)