Vegetarian Apple "Sausage" Stuffing - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 package seasoned dried cornbread stuffing mix or 1 package fresh crumbled bread (see note)
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons bell seasoning (see note)
1/4 1/4 cup margarine or 1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup diced celery
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 -3 vegetarian breakfast sausage patties, chopped
1 large apple, peeled,cored and chopped
2/3 cup diced pecans, walnuts (or any other nut you like)
2 cups water
2 teaspoons vegetarian chicken flavored broth mix or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes (see note)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350.
Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, add the stuffing crumbs, salt, pepper and bell's seasoning.
Toss to mix well.
In a large skillet, heat the butter, margarine or oil over medium heat.
Add the celery and saute for a minute or two.
Then add the onions, and saute another few minutes.
Add the chopped sausage patties, the apple, and the nuts, and keep sauteeing until the onions are transluscent, the apples are just barely cooked through and the nuts are lightly toasted.
Remove from the heat and pour this whole mixture into the stuffing crumb mixture.
Toss all together to blend well.
Boil the water and add the broth mix or cubes to the water and stir to dissolve.
Add about half of the broth to the stuffing mixture and stir.
Keep adding broth and mixing it in until the whole mixture is moistened to the stuffing consistency you like.
Then add a little more of the broth to compensate for evaporation while it's baking.
You don't want this too mushy.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
Dump the whole bowl of stuffing into the baking dish and spread out evenly.
You can cover it at this point and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake it.
Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes, until heated throughout and a bit crispy on top.
If you need to keep it warm in the oven, keep it covered with a pan cover or aluminum foil.
NOTES: Bell's Seasoning: Bell's seasoning is a fantastic chicken and stuffing seasoning mix that's been around for ages.
I've seen it touted as Martha Stewart's secret stuffing ingredient, but my family's been using it forever, long before she was Martha Stewart!
If you can't find it, it's a mixture of rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme and pepper.
If you can't get Bell's, use a mixture to your taste of whatever of those seasonings you can get your hands on, and go a little bit heavy on the sage.
Bread Mixture: You want the stuffing mix that is just the cornbread crumbs or dried cubes, you don't want a Stovetop type mix.
You can substitute 1/2 to 3/4 of a loaf of fresh bread, cubed, mixed with and 8x8\" pan of crumbled cornbread.
If using fresh bread, you'll need much less broth, and you might want to go a bit heavier on the seasonings.
Taste first and see.
Soy\"sausage\" patties: You can omit this completely if you desire and still have a great stuffing.
Broth Mix: This is my secret to vegetarian cooking.
The kosher broth mixes come in powder form in jars, and can be found in the kosher food section of the supermarket.
Carmel Kosher and Manischewitz are two of the more popular brands.
There are no mean products in them whatsover, and they are not only vegetarian, they are vegan too (I checked).
They come in chicken, beef, onion, mushroom, and other flavors.
And I personally like them better than the kinds that have meat in them.
If you don't want to use them, then a vegetable broth mix would work fine.
But I like the richness they can give to many vegetarian dishes.