Recipe- Italian Stuffing for Thanksgiving
When I started this blog, the purpose was to explore how food is much more than this thing that we put in our bodies for nutrition. Food has the power to elicit strong memories and the emotions that go along with them. It was fitting, that one of my first posts was about the Thanksgiving stuffing that my grandfather used to make every year. It is a simple recipe- bread, eggs, cheese, salami, and some herbs- but it truly is one of the best things that I’ve ever eaten. Yes, it is delicious (how could it not be with those ingredients???), but with every bite, it brings back memories of family and friends around a humongous but still overcrowded dining room table. It also brings back memories of those that aren’t around the table anymore.
So, on the anniversary of one of my first posts, here is my version of that stuffing. Thanks grandpa.
Italian Stuffing (8-10 side servings)
Ingredients:
- Two loaves of Italian bread, cut into cubes and left out to dry for 2 days
- 6 eggs, scrambled
- 2 cups of grated Pecorino Romano
cheese
- 1 cup of chopped parsley
- 1lb of canned (or jarred) sliced mushrooms, drained
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 8oz Genoa salami, deli sliced thin, then cut into 1/2″ pieces
- One plus 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
- 2tsp dried oregano
- Black pepper to taste
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In a large saute pan, melt 1/2 stick of butter
- Add the onions and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes
- Add mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes
- Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock and let the mix reduce by half
- Add the other stick of butter and melt
- In a LARGE bowl, combine the bread, cheese, parsley, salami, oregano and black pepper
- Add the butter / vegetable mix to the bowl
- Add the eggs and mix until all of the bread is covered and moist, but not mush
- Spoon the mixture into a baking dish or roasting tray, cover with foil, and roast until the internal temp reached 150 degrees (around 40 minutes)
- Remove the foil and place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes until the top of the stuffing turns golden brown and crispy.
