Chestnut, Prune & Pancetta Stuffing
- Ready In:
- 1hr 25mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Serves:
-
12
ingredients
- 1 (1 1/2 lb) sourdough loaf, cut into 1/3-inch dice (18 cups)
- 1 lb coarsely chopped pancetta, slices
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 3 cups chopped celery (5 to 6 ribs)
- 4 cups chopped onions (2 large)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 24 ounces peeled roasted chestnuts, halved (4 cups)
- 2 cups pitted prunes, quartered
- 5 cups turkey broth, heated to liquefy
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
directions
- Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F
- Scatter bread in a single layer in 2 large shallow baking pans (17 by 12 inches) and toast, stirring once or twice and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until golden and dry, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a very large bowl.
- Cook pancetta in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Add butter and heat until melted, then add celery and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 12 minutes.
- Stir in sage, salt, and pepper and cook 1 minute.
- Add pancetta mixture along with chestnuts and prunes to bowl containing bread.
- Whisk together stock and eggs, then stir into bread mixture until combined well.
- Transfer to 4 quart wide baking dish (stuffing will mound above dish).
- Bake, loosely covered with a buttered sheet of foil (buttered side down) 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake until top is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more.
-
Cooks' notes:
- • Stuffing, without stock-and-egg mixture, can be assembled (but not baked) 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Stir in stock mixture, then proceed with recipe.
- • Stuffing can be baked 6 hours ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, loosely covered. Reheat, covered, in a preheated 400°F oven until hot, about 30 minutes.
Questions & Replies

Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
This was amazing! We used it to stuff a goose for Thanksgiving this year. Our guests adored it. The only thing I changed was the butter. I just used the fat rendered from the pancetta. I forgot how much I HATE roasting chestnuts. My fingers hurt for days trying to peel those buggers. But the result was wonderful! Thanks!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Busters friend
Pleasure Island, 73
<p>First about Buster: Buster moved onto whatever comes next on February 26, 2008. He was just shy of five years old. I miss him terribly. <br />He came into our lives when he ran out in front of my car late one night as I was driving home. A just under 4 pound ball of kitten fluff, complete with an ostrich boa tail that stayed straight up as he assessed his new domain. He became a 19 pound longhaired beast who guarded our house (he followed any new guests or servicepeople the entire time they are on the property) & even killed copperheads (among other things with his hunting buddy, Fergus the short-tailed)! Friends never saw his formidible side as he smiled at them & uttered the most incongruent kitten-like mews as he threaded legs! He liked to ride in the car & came to the beach. <br />There are Buster-approved recipes in my offerings - however, HE decided which he wanted to consider - Buster demonstrated he liked pumpkin anything - ALOT -LOL!!! <br /> <br />Copperhead count 2006 - Buster 2 <br /> (10 inchers w/yellow tails) <br /> 2007 - Buster & Roxie 1 <br /> (a 24 incher!) <br />Buster woken from beauty sleep - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0335.JPG <br />Big whiskers - <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/members/home/62264/DSCN0333.JPG <br /> <br />For those of you who gave kind condolences - thank you so very much. <br />http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=250301 <br /> <br /> <br />I love to cook & incorporate techniques from Southern/Mid Atlantic roots (grits, eastern NC BBQ shoulders, Brunswick stew, steamed crabs & shrimp & shellfish, hushpuppies, cornbread, greens, shad roe, scrapple) with Pacific Rim foods & techniques aquired while living in Pacific Northwest, fish & game recipes learned while living in Rocky Mountain region & foods/techniques learned travelling to the Big Island & up into BC & Alberta & into the Caribbean. The Middle Eastern/African likes I have are remnants of my parents who lived for many years in North Africa & Mediterranean before I was thought of. Makes for wide open cooking! <br /> <br />Since moving back east we try to go annually in the deep winter to Montreal (Old Montreal auberges & La Reine) & Quebec City (Winter Carnival & Chateau Frontenac)- for unctuous foie gras & real cheeses, French & Canadian meals prepared & served exquisitely, fantastic music & wonderful people - with the cold helping burn off some of the calories! <br /> <br />I love putting in our aluminum jonboat & heading across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to the barrier islands for foraging & exploring! Bodysurfing is a lifelong sport for me - one that a person's body never seems to forget how to do, once the knack is learned (thank goodness!) <br /> <br />I especially miss cool summers & foggy/drizzly days & fall mushroom foraging/anytime of year hot springing in WA, OR, MT, ID, BC & Alberta.</p>