Can we talk stuffing please?

[HuevosRancheros]

Following on from the "pick just one part of the Christmas meal" thread, stuffing gets a fair few votes.

Could anyone please share their recipe?

I am looking for a veggie one - so presumably along the lines of sage and onion and breadcrumbs (but do I cook the onion first?) - and one that I can bake separately from a turkey i.e. not actually a stuffing for stuffing!!

TIA

PS I do realise that Google is my friend here, but a tried and tested recipe is worth a lot :)

The stuffing that I do has chopped bacon in it, but it is easy to leave it out. It works equally well as a stuffing in poultry, or baked separately. It can also be made in advance and frozen, just defrost the day before.

30g butter or oil
half an onion finely chopped
half a pack of chestnuts, crumbled (Merchant Gourmet)
25g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon fresh herbs chopped, equal proportions of parsley, sage, thyme
salt and pepper
enough hot water to combine ingredients into a firm mixture.

Fry the onion in the butter or oil, when soft remove from heat and set aside to cool. Crumble the chestnuts by hand, this will give some chunks and some finer bits which add to the texture. Make breadcrumbs, if you have no food processor you can simply tear the bread by hand into tiny bits. Chop herbs. Add all ingredients to the onion in the frying pan, and mix well, adding the hot water gradually to achieve the required consistency.

I usually put some in a freezer bag for stuffing the chicken, and put the rest into a shallow oven-proof dish to bake separately. I smear some butter over the dish to grease it and a little more over the top of the stuffing, and cover it before freezing.

The amount in the dish is approximately 4 portions, the amount in the chicken is about two handfuls. A turkey will need more as it's bigger, but only stuff the neck. You can put half an onion or apple in the body cavity with a small bunch of fresh herbs to add flavour and moisture.

If anyone who's reading this wants to add the bacon, the amount for the above stuffing is 60g.

Thank you :)

Should have added if using it, chop the bacon into small 1cmx1cm pics and fry at the same time as the onion.

Oooo, love stuffing!! I'm veggie too, this is from a 1970s cookbook my mum has 'All About the Cooking'. All the basics.
I'm out so don't have the measurements, but tbh I just go by how I like it.
I smallish onion, finely chopped.
Parsley, a really good handful, and a few sage leaves, all finely chopped.
Butter.
I think it asks for 50g butter but I use more. Put it in the pan, with the onion an cover with a round of grease proof paper, put on the lid. This really sweats and softens the onion beautifully.
Breadcrumbs-stale bread works best! I use up to 5 slices, whizzed in blender.
The secret is the texture. Once your onion is lovely and soft and transparent, add the bread rubs. The consistency you want is that it is still loose like breadcrumbs, but if you hold some of the stuffing in your closed hand it should go into a ball and stay that way.
This means you can work out do you need more melted butter or breadcrumbs.
Then add your herbs, salt and pepper.
Try not to eat it all before you need to use it.

Brilliant, thank you :)