stuffed

i'm house (and dog) sitting this week so i have the perfect opportunity to try some dishes that have been kicking around in my head for awhile.

even though most of the leaves on the trees are still green, fall has started to arrive in new england.  personally, i couldn't be more excited.  i love fall.  it is, hands down, my favorite season.  of course i love the explosion of color that is about to happen, but mostly i love the cool crisp days that feel like a reward for surviving yet another hot and humid summer.

i love the return of fall foods, the wild assortment of winter squashes, the apples (more on those later....) and the deep and earthy flavors that we associate with this time of year.

a few days ago i received a fantastic package from beth at spelt right baking.  inside were loaves of their lovely breads and bagels.  i'm a huge fan of their frozen pizza dough, so i was really excited to try their other products!

so, what to do when you've got fall flavors on the brain and some lovely spelt bread?  bread stuffing of course!  this is the traditional stuffing at our thanksgiving table (we add sausage to make it even better).  as you can see, it is from a well-loved betty crocker cookbook that has seen better days.  the binding has split, so one half is cape cod dip to pot roast and the other is corn-stuffed pork chops to mustard kohlrabi.  bread stuffing is happily located in the second half, in the poultry section.

spelt bread stuffing (adapted from betty crocker)
makes 4 servings

1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced (i include the leaves)
3T butter (plus 1T for topping)
poultry seasoning

6-8 slices spelt bread, cubed and toasted
3/4-1 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

preheat oven to 400

melt 3T of butter in a large skillet.  add the onion, celery and poultry seasoning and cook until the onions are translucent.

add the spelt cubes to a large bowl, then add the melted butter mixture.  stir to combine.

add the chicken broth and stir to combine.

add stuffing mixture to a buttered baking dish and dot the top with bits of butter.  cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  remove foil and continue to bake until the top is golden and crispy.