Gluten Free Turkey Stuffing

 

 

Years ago, pre-celiac diagnosis, I first tasted this stuffing at a family Thanksgiving dinner. I liked it so much, I have made it this way ever since. and it happens to be gluten free without any substitutions!

Growing up, my mother always made a ground meat based stuffing, never the classic Thanksgiving bread stuffing. It consisted of ground beef, mushrooms, onions and other seasonings similar to meatloaf. So my memories of turkey stuffing are closer to this version.

My cousin saw this recipe made on the Today Show many years ago by the Scotto Family. They were doing a segment on Thanksgiving dinner. She made it for Thanksgiving that year and I have been using the recipe ever since. I was delighted when I looked at the recipe and realized that the ingredients were gluten free! (Just be careful with the chicken broth-check the label to be sure it is gluten free). The only change I made was to decrease the amount of rice used. You can assemble this ahead of time and put it in the oven after the turkey is cooked.

Sausage and Rice Turkey Stuffing                 
(Adapted from a Scotto Family recipe)

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound Italian sausage without casing
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground veal
• 1 pound uncooked rice
• 1 1/2 pounds mozzarella cheese, diced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chicken broth

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Cook the rice according to the package directions (include the butter) In a large sauté pan over medium heat, brown the sausage in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Remove it to a large bowl. Sauté the onion, beef and veal in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil until brown and add it to the bowl. Stir together the meat, rice, chicken broth, mozzarella and Parmesan.
Place the mixture in a casserole dish, sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Serves 10 to 15

Printable Recipe

Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Bars

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and when I think of dessert for this holiday, there is always something made with pumpkin. I was looking for a gluten free dessert to make and I considered traditional pumpkin pie. I have had great success using crushed gluten free ginger snaps in place of graham crackers for the crust. But I came across a recipe for GF Harvest Pumpkin Spice Bars that looked tasty and were easy to make. The base for this recipe is Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix and the end results in a moist, delicious pumpkin dessert, not overly sweet and with a nice amount of spice. No one will guess these are gluten free!

I made a few changes-I added chopped pecans to the batter and I used a 13x9 glass baking dish instead of 15x10. 

Pumpkin Spice Bars
     
1 box Betty Crocker® Gluten Free yellow cake mix                        
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)                        
1/2 cup butter, softened                        
1/4 cup water                        
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon                         
1/2  teaspoon ground ginger                         
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves                         
3 eggs                         
1  cup raisins  
1 cup chopped pecans 

Cream Cheese Icing

 

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

4 oz. Cream Cheese or Neufchatel cheese 

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Beat together with mixer until fluffy.

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease bottom and sides of 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray. Beat all bar ingredients except raisins and pecans with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in raisins and nuts. Spread evenly in pan.                           

Bake 30 minutes or until light brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack.                            

Spread with cream cheese icing.  Cut into squares and garnish each square with a pecan. Store in refrigerator.
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