Ciabatta Stuffing With Chestnuts and Pancetta

⏱ 21 mins 🍽 8-10 serving(s) 🏷 Winter

This flavourful winter stuffing combines crispy pancetta with a sautéed vegetable base of onions, carrots, celery, rosemary and garlic. Roasted chestnuts and fresh parsley are stirred in, then mixed with cubes of day-old ciabatta and grated Parmesan. The mixture is moistened with chicken broth, seasoned, bound with eggs and baked until golden and crisp on top. It serves 8 to 10 people.

Ciabatta Stuffing With Chestnuts and Pancetta

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 8 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4 inch dice
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 (7 1/2 ounce) jars roasted peeled whole chestnuts, coarsely broken
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1 lb day-old ciabatta, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
  • 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup canned low sodium chicken broth (or more)
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large eggs, beaten to blend

Method

  1. Set your oven to heat to 350 degrees F.
  2. Use butter to coat a glass baking dish measuring 15 by 10 by 2 inches.
  3. Place 2 tablespoons of butter in a large, heavy skillet and melt it.
  4. Cook the diced pancetta until it turns crisp and golden, which should take about 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the pancetta from the skillet with a slotted spoon and place it into a large mixing bowl.
  6. Melt the rest of the butter in the same skillet.
  7. Put the chopped onions, carrots, celery, rosemary and garlic into the skillet.
  8. Cook the vegetables, stirring, until the onions become very tender, approximately 12 minutes.
  9. Carefully mix in the broken chestnuts and the chopped parsley.
  10. Move this onion and chestnut mixture into the large bowl containing the pancetta.
  11. Add the ciabatta cubes and the grated Parmesan cheese, then toss everything together to coat.
  12. Pour in enough chicken broth to moisten the stuffing mixture thoroughly.
  13. Season the stuffing with salt and freshly ground black pepper according to your taste.
  14. Incorporate the beaten eggs into the mixture.
  15. Spoon the prepared stuffing into the buttered baking dish.
  16. Cover the dish with foil that has been buttered, placing the buttered side down, and bake for about 30 minutes until heated through.
  17. Take off the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes until the top is crisp and golden.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium256700 mg

Recipe details

CategoryWinter
AuthorCynna