This delicious vegan stuffing features tempeh, parsnip, apple, sage and walnuts. It's packed with flavour and perfect to feed a crowd at Christmas or your next potluck.
2-3tablespoonfresh sage leaves, finely chopped (about 7-8 good sized leaves)
1pack of tempeh (250g), broken into small pieces
1large parsnip, peeled and diced (approximately 2 cups or 300g)
½cupapple cider
2cupsvegetable stock, (use a good quality, well flavoured stock)
1granny smith apple, peeled and diced
Zest of one lemon
Ciabatta bread, preferably 1-2 days old, cubed, approximately 200g (I used two ciabatta buns)
1cupwalnuts, roughly chopped
1-2tablespoonextra olive oil
Instructions
Heat 4 tablespoon of olive oil over a medium flame heat in a large frypan or skillet that has a lid available.
Add onion, garlic, sage and fennel seeds and cook for a few minutes or until the onion has softened.
Add tempeh and cook for about five minutes or until it is beginning to colour.
Add parsnip, cider, ½ cup of vegetable stock (reserve the rest for later) and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, cover and and leave to cook over a low heat for 10 minutes.
Remove the lid, add the apple and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until the liquid is mostly gone, the apple is very soft, and the parsnip and tempeh have browned in places. This is your best opportunity to get caramelisation into the dish (and therefore lots of flavour) so take your time at this stage.
Turn off the heat and leave to cool for half an hour, or until cool enough to handle.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Tip tempeh mixture into a large mixing bowl, add ½ cup of chopped walnuts (reserve the rest for later) and the chopped bread and stir through. Then add vegetable stock a splash at a time and mix it in with your hands. You want to stop adding stock when everything is moist and a bit squishy, but not soaking wet. I used about 1 ⅓ cups of stock at this point.
Season with salt and pepper again, then tip into a greased casserole dish and press down evenly. I used my fingers to dimple the surface a bit so that it would crisp and brown better.
Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of walnuts and drizzle the surface evenly with another 1-2 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper again.
Cover the casserole tightly with aluminium foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil, then continue baking for another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top. Keep an eye on it in the last 10 minutes to make sure the walnuts aren't burning.