This recipe is adapted from one we found years ago on Epicurious via Bon Appétit. We’ve tweaked it here and there, adapted it to make 1 1/2 times the original recipe. This was the first stuffing recipe I ever made and it’s so good we’ve never bothered to make any other. I dream about the stuff all year, it’s absolutely delicious.
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For a recipe with this many ingredients, I like to prep everything ahead of time which makes the cooking process fun and easy when I’m ready to start.
SOURDOUGH STUFFING WITH PINE NUTS, DRIED CRANBERRIES, AND PARMESAN
Ingredients.
3 14.5oz loaves of soft (cheap) sourdough bread, cut into 1” cubes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded or shaved Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, plus more for greasing
3 very large red onions or 4 medium red onions, coarsely chopped
6 stalks celery, coarsely chopped (about 5 cups)
3 bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow if possible), coarsely chopped
12 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
1 1/2 low sodium turkey, chicken, or vegetable broth
Directions.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Use a paper towel and a couple tablespoons of olive oil to grease to large, rimmed baking sheets. In a very large bowl place 1/2 of the bread, olive oil, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Toss it all together and transfer it to one of the baking sheets. Spread the bread out into a single layer. Repeat with the remaining bread.
Place the baking sheets in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss the bread around, and place them back in the oven (rotating the pans from top to bottom) for an additional 5-7 minutes, until the bread is golden and toasted. Remove the sheets from the oven, set aside and allow the bread to cool before transferring it back to your bowl.
Melt the stick of butter in a large dutch oven or heavy pot over medium high heat. Sauté the onions, celery, and bell peppers for about 15 minutes, until they are just beginning to brown. Add the garlic, rosemary, and oregano and stir, cooking for about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the pine nuts and dried cranberries.
In your large bowl (you may need to use two) mix together the vegetables and the bread. Allow it to cool and rest for about 30 minutes, tossing it occasionally before mixing in 1/2 of your basil and the remaining Parmesan cheese. Finally, once it’s mostly cooled, mix in your eggs (you don’t want to mix them in when it’s hot or they could scramble).
Using butter, grease one very large baking dish/aluminum roasting pan, or two 13×9” dishes. Transfer the stuffing to the pan(s). Moisten with your broth, cover with buttered aluminum foil, and bake until heated through, about 40 minutes.* Uncover and bake until the top is golden, another 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining basil and serve!
*When I’m bringing this dish to someone else’s house for Thanksgiving I will stop it at this point and reheat it in their oven covered for 10 minutes, then uncovered for 20 minutes.
PRINTABLE RECIPE.
SOURDOUGH STUFFING WITH PINE NUTS, DRIED CRANBERRIES, and PARMESAN
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