Description
Baking pears with gluten free and vegan stuffing makes for a unique and healthier holiday side! Plus, they’re delicious, and it’s a gorgeous way to serve traditional holiday dressing.
Ingredients
Scale
- 5 cups (7 slices ~ 30g each) diced vegan seed bread (Little Northern)
- 1 Tablespoon vegan butter or oil
- 1 cup onion or shallot, chopped
- 1 cup celery stalks, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves only
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/3 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup fresh cranberries or pomegranate arils (or 1/3 c dried cranberries)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 1/4 cups (12 oz) vegetable stock
- 4–5 medium pears (green Bartlett or red)
- Optional topping: crushed candied nuts and/or fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Dice the bread into small cubes and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake bread for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through cook time. Remove from oven and set aside in a large bowl.
- Add butter to a pan and turn heat to medium. Add onion, celery, and garlic; sauté for 5 minutes, or until fragrant and onions are translucent.
- Add in the thyme and rosemary and cook for an additional 3 minutes. If using fresh cranberries, add them now. If using dried cranberries, mix in later with bread.
- Place toasted bread in the pan with cooked celery onion herb mixture. Pour the vegetable stock on top, being careful not to over saturate the bread.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Next, slice pears in half. Using a paring knife, cut a circle in the middle of the core. Scoop out 2-3 heaping tablespoons of pear from each half, leaving a hole approximately 1/4 cup in size. Place pear halves in a large casserole dish or on a baking sheet.
- Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice to the center of each pear, then fill each pear with 1/4 cup of gluten free stuffing. NOTE: You might have extra.
- Season with salt and pepper, then bake in the the oven for 25 to 30 minutes,* rotating the pan halfway through cooking time. (see notes)
- Remove baked pears with stuffing from the oven and garnish with fresh herbs and/or optional crushed candied nuts.
Notes
Depending on what type of pear you use (red pear vs Bartlett) the cooking times will vary. Red pears take 3-4 minutes longer to cook than green Bartlett.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: sides
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: half pear with stuffing
- Calories: 166
- Sugar: 11.8 g
- Sodium: 268.7 mg
- Fat: 5.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.5 g
- Fiber: 4.9 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
