Stuffing/Dressing with Ciabatta Bread

It's 2024 and this is still one of my favorite stuffing/dressing recipes! 

Big weekend coming up; family, food, fun and laughs!  

Original Post 2011 ~ Right before Christmas I qualified for a free turkey from Harris Teeter which is the local market where I shop. I know, you are probably thinking that nobody gives away anything free these days; well I was just as surprised as you.  

Several years ago many of the local grocery stores in my area use to award loyal customers with free food, gas cards, grills and all types of great gifts. Since these offers have been pretty much non-existent over the last two years, I was delighted to pick up my frozen bird.  

The Turkey is thawing in the refrigerator and I am busy pulling together the menu, which should not be difficult. I am going to keep it simple and go with the traditional turkey dinner; fresh green beans, fresh frozen cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy and of course roasted turkey.

Last November I was watching Giada De Laurentiis on the today show, she was demonstrating how to cook four different “Sweet and savory” stuffing recipes for Thanksgiving. The recipe that caught my interest was “Ciabatta stuffing with chestnuts and pancetta. “

My hubby prefers a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings; however I prepared Giada’s Ciabatta stuffing recipe last Thanksgiving and it was a big hit with him and my in-laws.  I did make a few adjustments to the recipe but the stuffing was savory and delicious as promised by Giada. 

Here are the ingredients that I used; you can link to the today show website for Giada's recipe and cooking instructions. 

Recipe: Ciabatta stuffing with chestnuts and pancetta Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients; Kary’s version without the chestnuts replacing the pancetta with bacon: 

Heat oven to 350 decrees 

·         4 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter  

·         6 slices of thick smoked bacon cut into 1 inch pieces or pancetta

·         1 small sweet yellow onions, finely chopped

·         3 celery stalks, finely chopped

·         2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

·         3 garlic cloves, chopped

·         1 loaf day-old ciabatta bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

·         ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

·         1 cup, you might need a little more to moisten the bread, low-sodium chicken broth

·         Salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         2 large eggs

Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray

Cook the bacon until crisp, pour out the grease. I leave about a tablespoon of bacon grease to cook the onions, celery, rosemary  and garlic until they start to soften and remove from heat. Crack the eggs and beat until blended in a large bowl. Add the bread cubes, the onions, celery, garlic, rosemary, melted butter and 1 cup of chicken broth. Salt, pepper and add the Parmesan, lightly toss until well mixed, add more chicken broth if needed. You want the bread to be a little moist. 
Pour into the greased baking dish, cover with foil and bake. Bake for about 30 to 45 minutes, until it is well heated. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes until golden brown or I like to broil for about 5 minutes~Keeping a close eye on this delicious dressing because you do not want it to burn!!!

Thank you Giada, this is amazing! 

Do you have any recipes that you have adapted from one of your chef’s?  Please share!  

Cook something! Cheers! Kary