A Thanksgiving Tradition to Share: Wild Mushroom & Spinach Stuffing

I love stuffing. Thanksgiving, to me, is pretty much all about the stuffing. And the pumpkin pie. Well, and mashed potatoes with gravy. But mostly the stuffing.

Being the carb-lover that I am, I usually do two different kinds of stuffing each year. I make this one, which has become my tried and true recipe, and I make a new recipe... either a savory one, like with vegan sausage, or a sweeter one, with dried fruits and nuts and things. What will I make this year? Who knows! But I will certainly make this Wild Mushroom & Spinach stuffing recipe again. As far as stuffings go, this one is pretty simple and straight-forward, with no hard ingredients to find. The flavors are fairly simple, but as with any good stuffing, the end result is so much more than the sum of the parts. It is truly a classic Thanksgiving dish.

Vegan Wild Mushroom & Spinach Stuffing (very slightly adapted from this recipe)
makes 8 - 10 servings

3/4 cup Earth Balance or other vegan butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. assorted fresh wild mushrooms (like chanterelle, shitake, and crimini), cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 9 cups)
3 cups chopped onions (about 1 pound)
2 cups chopped celery (4 to 5 stalks)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

5 oz. baby spinach leaves
12 cups (generous) 1-inch cubes day-old pain rustique or ciabatta bread with crust (about 1 1/4 pounds)
1 Tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer, mixed with 4 Tbsp. water (equivalent of 2 eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 cup vegetable broth (plus more, if stuffing is too dry)

1. Melt 1/4 cup butter with olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced wild mushrooms and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to large bowl.

2. Melt remaining 1/2 cup butter in same skillet over medium heat. Add onions and celery. Sauté until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Add all herbs; sauté 1 minute longer. Add spinach and toss until just wilted, about 1 minute. Add vegetable mixture to bowl with mushrooms. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. 

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until bread is crusty but not hard, reversing sheets after 5 minutes, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer to very large bowl and cool.

4. Butter 13x9x2-inch (or similar sized oval) baking dish. Stir vegetable mixture into bread. Whisk egg replacer, salt, and pepper in small bowl to blend well; whisk in 1 cup broth. Add egg mixture to stuffing, tossing to combine evenly and adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish.

Bake stuffing uncovered until cooked through and brown and crusty on top, 50 to 60 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.