It is November already and this weekend, daylight savings ends (boohoo). The Halloween decorations are down (I hope) and the fall foliage has come indoors as we decorate our fireplace mantels and dining room tables. We are heading to the homestretch to Thanksgiving and we have shared our easy and succulent recipes (appetizer, soup, salad, turkey). We are determined to prove that preparing a delicious Thanksgiving feast is manageable. And fun. I hope you have had a chance to try out some of the recipes, for we would love to hear from you. This recipe for caramelized onion stuffing may well upstage the turkey (it is that good) and replace of your mother’s recipe (sorry, Mom).
Caramelized Onion and Pine Nut Stuffing
- 1 pound country-style French bread or regular French bread, crust trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter (go for it)
- Two large onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- Three celery stalks, chopped
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
- Two eggs, beaten to blend
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread bread cubes in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about ten to fifteen minutes. Transfer to large bowl, cool.
Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté ten minutes. Add rosemary, sauté until onions are golden brown, about ten minutes longer. Add celery and sauté until beginning to soften, about five minutes. Add pine nuts and stir to blend. Transfer onion mixture to medium bowl. Mix in parsley. Add broth to skillet and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add to onion mixture. (Bread and onion mixture can be made one day ahead. Cover separately. Store bread at room temperature; refrigerate onion mixture.) Stir onion mixture into bread. Season with salt and pepper. Mix eggs into stuffing.
To Bake Stuffing in Turkey:
Loosely fill main cavity with cool stuffing. Butter glass baking dish. Spoon remaining stuffing into prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down. Bake stuffing in dish alongside turkey until heated through, about twenty minutes.
To Bake All of Stuffing in Baking Dish:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.
Next week—the finishing touch to the main course: caramelized onion and balsamic gravy. Have you noticed the caramelized onion theme? That would be because caramelized onions are the height of succulence. Pretty much.
