½ teaspoon sea salt (3/4 teaspoon if your broth isn't that salty)
black pepper to taste
Instructions
Divide the diced bread between two baking sheets and toast in the oven for 12 minutes at 400°F. Rotate the pans halfway through to make sure they toast evenly. When they are done, you'll notice that they've taken on a little color and have become crunchy. Remove from the oven and let cool on the counter for 5-10 minutes. When cool, transfer the breadcrumbs into a large mixing bowl.
In a large skillet or pot over medium-high heat, add 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil and sauté the onions until slightly softened (3 minutes). Add the diced fennel and carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Finally add the diced apple and garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes. You may notice that some of the veggies will brown and take on some color, that's good! Add the sage, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, red pepper, and sauté for another minute and finally add the vegetable broth to deglaze the pan. Remove from the heat. Stir in the chestnuts, salt, and black pepper.
Add the cooked veggies and broth mixture to the big bowl of toasted bread and stir to thoroughly combine. Pour the seasoned bread and veggies mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and press gently to evenly distribute the bread. Drizzle with the remaining 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Bake, uncovered, in that same 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes or until the top starts to slightly brown and gets crunchy. Remove from oven, garnish with chopped fennel fronds and serve hot.
Notes
-12 cups sounds like a lot of bread but once one large loaf is diced small, it equals many cups of bread cubes. I've made this before using just one large loaf of semolina bread from the local baker. This time, I used a mix of semolina bread and a darker whole wheat.
Recipe by Lands & Flavors at https://www.landsandflavors.com/fennel-apple-and-chestnut-stuffing/