Holiday Stuffing With Leeks & Pistachios
The question on everyone’s minds: Is it dressing or stuffing?
The age old question — should the famous Thanksgiving side dish be called a stuffing or a dressing? Regardless of what you call it, this wonderful stuffing recipe will complement any holiday menu. In fact, I think this is one of the unmissable, required sides that make holidays like Thanksgiving the meal that it is. Truth be told, I think this dish should be enjoyed year round, but that’s just me.
What are the essential ingredients of a stuffing? Using good quality, dried bread is the first requirement of making a successful stuffing dish. The actual type of bread can vary (sourdough, cornbread, white bread, or a mix of multiple), but drying out the bread properly before creating this dish is essential. This way you don’t end up with a soggy final product. You can either leave the bread on the counter or in the fridge to get stale, or you can put your oven to the lowest setting and let the bread dry out if you need this process done quicker. Another option you can choose is to save your leftover bread in the freezer over time and defrost them when you’re ready to make stuffing. This is the route I take as we very often do not finish the bread that we buy for weekly meals — it’s a win, win!
What kind of nut can you substitute for Pistachios? I recommend pistachios for this recipe because they provide a festive green color to the dressing, but you can substitute any nut in its place — walnuts, pecans, cashews, even macadamia nuts.
Why do you add eggs to a stuffing? Eggs are a great addition to a stuffing to create a creamy effect to the final product, similar to a bread pudding. This is a subtle addition that makes the stuffing just a bit more rich — perfect for the holidays.
How to tell if stuffing is finished cooking? This is a great question, particularly with a dressing or stuffing recipe because there are a lot of variables here — how wet is your stuffing mixture, how hot is your oven, etc. My overall recommendation would be if you’re not 100% sure if the dish is complete, leave it in for another 10 minutes. My rule of thumb is that a potentially overcooked stuffing is ALWAYS better than an undercooked one. To test if this dish is finished cooking, I recommend using a fork to push on the stuffing to assess how much liquid has cooked off and if the texture is more crispy versus soggy. We never want a soggy stuffing, we’re looking for a firm stuffing with crispy tops and edges. When in doubt, I will shamelessly use a fork to sample some of the middle of the stuffing, where it’d be the most undercooked, and see what the texture is like.
At the end of the day, the key to making a great stuffing is a balance of moisture. This recipe sets you up for success by utilizing very crusty, stale bread and a combination of chicken broth and eggs. This way, you’ll have an end result that’s well-hydrated while also incredibly crispy — perfect for drowning with gravy.
Holiday Stuffing With Leeks and Pistachios
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs of a crusty loaf of bread, cut or ripped into approximately 1 inch cubes
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 large leek
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 3/4 cup roasted pistachios
- 2 tsps dried sage
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 13x9 casserole dish by rubbing with softened butter or spraying with non-stick spray. Prepare leeks by cutting them in half lengthwise, rinsing them thoroughly in the sink to remove any sandy dirt, and then cutting them into half-circle slices. Melt all of the butter in a pan and add the leeks, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Once the leeks are soft after about 10 minutes, add in the sliced garlic and dried sage to saute briefly for about 2 minutes. Adding dried spices to a warm pan with oil is always beneficial and recommended in order to bloom the spices and help wake up their flavor — you’ll get more taste out of the herbs if you do it this way. Deglaze the pan with white wine and let the alcohol cook out for about 5 minutes.
- While these ingredients are cooking, make sure all of the crusty bread is torn into roughly 1 inch cubes and added to a very large bowl — this is where we will mix everything together. Add the contents from the saucepan and the pistachios directly into the bread. At this point I recommend tasting the stuffing to ensure that you have seasoned well with salt and pepper, adjust as needed. Next, add in two well-beaten eggs and mix everything together thoroughly. Once all of the ingredients are well incorporated, spread them evenly in the casserole dish and bake for approximately 1 hour.
