Easy Vegetable Stuffing with Butternut Squash

Recipe Title:  Easy Vegetable Stuffing with Butternut Squash (this stuffing can be made ahead and kept in the fridge until it is time to cook for dinner)

Yield:  6 servings

By: Miriam Borys

Ingredients:

¼ c       olive oil
1/4 c    butter

2          onions – large 
4          stocks celery
2 c       carrots - diced
12 slices bread  or old hamburger buns

2 tbsp. dried sage 

2 tsp.      Sage powder

1 cup   fresh cilantro
1 ½ cups vegetable stock or water

salt & pepper to taste

Option: add ½ cup white wine to deglaze the pan before adding 1 cup of stock

after baking for 35 - 40 minutes in 350 oven...yummy!!!

Procedure:

Melt butter in olive oil in sauté pan on medium heat.
Add onions. Sauté diced onions until softened and slightly transparent.
Add diced celery, carrots, sage and rosemary. Continue to sauté with onions until carrots turned a bright orange but are still hard and not fully cooked (they will continue to cook in the oven).

Add butternut squash (optional but a tasty addition)
Cut up bread in cubes with a knife.

.
Meanwhile wash cilantro and chop 1/2 cup.  

Add all ingredients into a large bowl with bread crumbs and cooked onion mixture. Toss until well combined.

Place stuffing into a greased casserole dish. Cool overnight in fridge if making ahead.

If desired you can also roll this stuffing in greased parchment paper and then tin foil to make very tidy, presentable rounds that can be cut very easily after coming out of the oven. Cook in tin foil logs for 25 minutes at 325. Let cool slightly & then slice.

Cook stuffing in the casserole at 350 degrees for approx. 30 – 40 minutes until internal temperature is 165.

Note:  this  vegetable stuffing can be stuffed in your turkey as well if desired. If you choose to stuff your turkey ensure the internal temperature is 170 when removed from the oven. Also, immediately remove the stuffing from the cavity of the turkey to prevent contamination.