Welcome to the Thanksgiving Series! I’m going to try my best to include a list of tools that you’ll need for each dish and if you’re able to make it ahead. Thanksgiving can be stressful but really with some simple planning you can be day drinking and a master host for Thanksgiving and not break a sweat!
This seems weird to start off with stuffing/dressing, but I had an epiphany, a come to Jesus moment, with this savory bread dish that I have often (read: every thanksgiving) have wondered why people care about it. For the purpose of this post, I refer to stuffing as the savory bread dish that is baked in a dish outside of the turkey and truly believe that only aromatics and maybe some citrus should go in the cavity of the bird, and you most definitely shouldn’t stuff your bird with bread and then try to bake it.
Let’s take a walk down memory lane. When I was a kid, Thanksgiving usually was held at my Grandma’s house, and my horrible uncle would proudly boast that he made the best stuffing and there were x sticks of butter in it and all the grease from the sausage. As a kid, I was under the influence of fat and butter and grease being bad, so maybe I had a premonition that things were about to be bad. And I was right. It was terrible. Not only was the whole thing soggy, but it was bland, and I don’t really remember it too much because I was also a vegetarian for a long time so I skipped the stuffing. But wow, it was awful, to the point where I just thought all stuffing was bad.
There are a lot of stuffing varietals – stovetop original, cornbread, stuffing with fruit in it, stuffing with oysters in it, spicy stuffing, the list goes on and on. While I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to this Thanksgiving side dish, I have no problem with people going all in with their stuffing add ins. Thanksgiving is about sampling all the food and then repurposing leftovers for the week anyway, so be creative! There’s one thing I won’t stand for though and that is soggy foods. My major problem with stuffing is that it is always, ALWAYS, soggy in the middle. There’s nothing I love about soggy food. It is bad. Soggy cereal, soggy stuffing, soggy french toast, soggy pizza crust, soggy pie crust. No. I won’t do it. So I was determined to make a stuffing that was delicious and not soggy, and so I turned to an underutilized baking vessel – the bundt pan.
The Bundt pan is perfect for stuffing. It turns out into a beautiful shape. Maximizes surface area. Allows for even cooking. Fits in my toaster oven. And is probably not going to be used for any other dish during Thanksgiving. I adapted this recipe by combining my favorite parts of the Bon Appetit Simple Stuffing Recipe and Alison Roman’s Buttered Stuffing with Celery and Leeks (Highly recommend her NYTimes Cooking Thanksgiving youtube video). This can also be adapted to be vegetarian friendly by subbing vegetable broth for chicken broth, I just have chicken broth on hand and during a pandemic, can’t be too picky.
This comes together pretty quickly with the exception of having day old bread piece sitting out to become stale, but you could also toast the bread pieces in a 250 oven until stale but not browned. I torn my loaf of bread up and let it sit on the counter for a full day before I got around to making the stuffing. Luckily Wallis doesn’t care for stale carbs, but just make sure it’s out of reach of hungry cats and children. This dish easy to include kids in because a lot of tearing is require instead of knife skills, so while you’re chopping leeks, shallots, and celery, your kids can be tearing leaves and mixing bread.
Savory Stuffing
Ingredients
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 leek, sliced into 1/4″ – 1/2″ rounds up to the dark green parts, thoroughly rinsed
4 shallots (or one small red onion), sliced into 1/4″ – 1/2″ rounds
5 ribs of celery, sliced into 1/4″ – 1/2″ pieces
6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb crusty white bread, like ciabatta, torn into pieces and stale
6-8 large sage leaves, torn into small pieces
4-6 thyme springs, leaves removed
2 rosemary sprigs, leaves removed
6-8 stalks flat leaf parsley, leaves torn into small pieces
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 eggs
Tools
Cutting Board
Knife
Skillet
Large and Small Bowl
Spatula
Bundt Pan
Oven or Toaster Oven
Foil
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350.
In a skillet over medium heat, add your butter and melt before adding your leeks, shallots, celery, and garlic, cooking until softened but not mushy, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, put your bread into a large bowl and toss the bread, sage, thyme, rosemary, and parsley until well combined. In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, eggs, salt and pepper.
Once the vegetables are done, add everything from the pan into bread bowl, using a spatula to mix as it will be hot. Pour in the broth and egg mixture, stirring to combine. Let sit, and stir again, and repeat this process until all the liquid has been absorbed – about 2-3 times.
Grease a 12-cup bundt pan and add in all of the stuffing, pressing down gently to ensure all the nooks and crannies of the bundt pan have been filled.
If you’re making this the same day, cook uncovered for 60-70 minutes or until the stuffing is a rich brown color on top and internally temp of 160 degrees fahrenheit. If you’re making this the day before, cover the bundt pan with foil, and bake for 40-45 minutes, ensuring the eggs have cooked. The day of, remove foil and bake again at 375 until crispy, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before flipping onto a plate. Let cool completely.
Happy Thanksgiving Eating!
Kelly
