If you’ve been following along this past year, you’ve probably noticed Matt has a new found interest in foraging for mushrooms! He geeks out over it! It’s so cute, and I’m sure there’s like a Dutch word for the joy you get from seeing someone you love enjoy something they love, and that’s how I feel. It’s so exciting to watch him get excited, and when he has a big successful foraging day it feels like Christmas morning.

With this new interest has come an influx of mushrooms we’re trying to use in new and creative ways (did you see our chanterelle toast?!), and so with the season of gatherings upon us, it seemed like a great time for a mushroom stuffing recipe!

This recipe is somewhat of a non-recipe, meaning you can tinker with it a good bit and still have good results. Don’t stress over having the perfect blend of mushrooms or the perfect crusty bread – use what you’ve got, it’s gonna be just fine.

On that note, we’ve allowed ourselves to be a little unhinged and are serving these in miniature pumpkins (we were inspired by all these gorgeous recipes by bloggers on Pinterest! which are 1) totally edible and 2) kind of delicious and 3) remarkably, stupidly charming. But they are also entirely optional! This stuffing would be just as delicious served in a casserole dish like any other stuffing!

The full recipe is below for you, and I’d love to see if you make it so please tag us on socials @probablythis if you give it a try!

P.S. we made this in our braiser from Le Creuset and it was the perfect all-in-one dish for cooking and serving! We’re linking it here for you if you want to grab one of your own for your holiday cooking adventures! The color we have is “merengue” :)

Mushroom Dressing Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

Ingredients:

8 to 10 miniature pumpkins (plus 2-3 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil for roasting!)

2 sticks salted butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
1 pound mixed mushrooms (blend of oyster, shiitake or maitake preferred), roughly chopped
4 cups cubed crusty bread, such as a French boule (sourdough would be great here too)
¼ cup olive oil plus
1 cup vegetable broth
3 eggs, whisked
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
3 leaves sage, minced
Salt & Pepper

Start by preparing your miniature pumpkins, if using. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Carefully slice off the top of each pumpkin, remove the insides with a spoon, and rub the inside and outside lightly with oil. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, or until the flesh on the inside is easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the stuffing

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saucepan, braiser, or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, and a hefty pinch of salt and cook just until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, bread, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring often. Pour the vegetable broth evenly over the stuffing followed by the whisked eggs and fresh parsley and sage. Mix to combine and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve warm, or spoon into your miniature pumpkins (at this point I bake them an additional 10 minutes to help them set in the pumpkins, but that is optional), and serve.