Have been wanting to try making a vegetarian turkey, and today's potluck at work was a good excuse to do it. I made it up as I went along, and was glad to discover that it tasted pretty good. I wasn't gentle enough when I was moving it back and forth from the oven for basting, and it's little legs broke. Next time I think I'd either support them with some foil, or put a dowel in them, but I propped them back up after baking and it looked fine. If you want to give it a try, here's the recipe I came up with:
Vegetarian "Turkey"
1 16 oz bag stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farms Herb)
water/butter as called for on stuffing pkg.
Handful dried cranberries
4 lb roll of Worthington's frozen Smoked Turkey soyameat, thawed
1 red onion
3/4 lb or so, carrots (I just used the baby ones, already cleaned!)
2 small cans mushrooms, drained
generous splash soy sauce
Poultry seasoning or roasting rub
1 can dried breadcrumbs, unseasoned
Olive oil
Maple syrup
Paprika
Mix stuffing mix per directions on pkg, adding dried cranberries, set aside.
In food processor, grind up soy turkey, onion, carrots and mushrooms, place in large bowl. Add soy sauce, poultry seasoning to taste, and bread crumbs. Use hands to knead until throughly mixed.
Lightly oil large roasting pan and mound stuffing firming in middle, forming rounded oval. Gently cover stuffing with flattened handfuls of turkey mixture, until entire mound of stuffing is covered. Smooth firmly with hands. Keep adding turkey mixture, smoothing and shaping to form "turkey" shape. Make sure legs are supported by bottom of pan and extra foil if needed. Could also run a small dowel through legs for extra support if wanted.
Mix olive oil with small amount of poultry seasoning/herbs and paprika (to give turkey a deeper color) and gently baste. Place in 350 oven for about 90 minutes. Baste one more time with olive oil mixture, then again towards end and after removing from oven, with maple syrup mixed with some paprika. Enjoy.
