Thanksgiving comes early this year. But thankfully (get it?), working at Williams-Sonoma has been preparing me for t-gives since October, when we loaded our shelves with gravy base, cranberry relish, and boxes and boxes of now sold-out Foccacia stuffing. That stuffing is the definition of a hot commodity, by the way, let me tell you.
So, I took the inspiration that so gladly comes with stocking the shelves and meandering through one of the most beautiful kitchen stores in the nation, and got into my own kitchen to create a couple of dishes for our big dinner–no one likes a side-dish bust on turkey day and believe me, I surive on trial runs.
I tried this focaccia stuffing recipe for the first time last week and enjoyed it so much, I couldn’t put my fork down. I prepared it using all of the basics, with an untraditional addition of pine nuts, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes. I’m about as traditional as a cup of tea in China, but I still enjoyed the twist on this Thanksgiving classic and suspect that you might, too.
Foccacia Stuffing
(Recipe courtesy of Delish)
1 loaf focaccia bread, cubed (about 8 cups)
4 tbs. pine nuts
3 tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 sundried tomatoes in oil, finely chopped
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts
3 tbs. chopped fresh basil
3 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp.(s) salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place cubed bread in a large bowl and set aside.
In a dry skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the nuts to the bread cubes.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring often. To the bread bowl, add the onions and garlic, along with the sundried tomatoes, artichokes, basil, stock, salt, and pepper. Stir until combined well.
Oil a 3-quart casserole dish and spoon the stuffing into the dish. Drizzle the last 1 tablespoon of oil over the stuffing. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until dried to your liking.
dish & tell 