Jamie Oliver has shared the recipe for Gennaro’s traditional Italian pork stuffing (Image: Getty)
Turkey may be the centrepiece, but stuffing is the real showstopper on their plates when they tuck into dinner.
Though shopbought stuffing has many fans, a traditional Italian passed down from an Italian chef is a nice way to venture into homemade territory.
Gennaro Contaldo, who hails from the Amalfi coast, is the beloved chef who taught Jamie Oliver everything he knows about Italian cooking.
Wafting with sage, rosemary and thyme, Gennaro’s pork and onion stuffing can be tweaked as you see fit.
wrote: “This is Gennaro’s traditional for stuffing – the ingredients here are for his basic , but check out the embellishment options in the method before you shop so you can tweak as you like.”
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Gennaro’s stuffing recipe can be changed as you see fit (Image: Getty)
Gennaro’s pork and onion stuffing recipe
Ingredients
- Three onions
- Olive oil
- A few sprigs of fresh woody herbs, such as sage, rosemary, thyme
- Optional: one pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 400g stale bread
- 150ml semi-skimmed milk
- 600g quality sausagemeat or chipolata sausages
- Unsalted butter, for greasing
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Method
Peel and finely chop the onions, then sweat in a frying pan on a medium heat with one tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper for 10 minutes, or until soft but not coloured, stirring often.
Pick and finely chop the herb leaves and stir into the pan, with the chilli flakes for a bit of warmth (if using).
Trim off the crusts then tear the bread into a bowl and soak it in the milk and 150ml of water for a couple of minutes so it gets really soft. Squeeze between your hands to get rid of the excess liquid, then transfer to a separate bowl.
Tip in the soft onions and mix together – the bread will cool the onions down quickly.
Once completely cool, add the sausagemeat or squeeze the meat out of the chipolata skins into the bowl and use clean hands to scrunch it all together. This is your base stuffing mix and it’s delicious!
Or, you can embellish it with one or a combination of the ideas: one small handful of chopped dried fruit, such as cranberries, raisins, dates, dried apricots; one splash of sherry or sweet wine; one handful of pine nuts or chopped mixed nuts; the finely grated zest of 1 clementine or one small orange; a good grating of nutmeg.
Rub the inside of a baking dish (20cm x 30cm) with butter.
Reserve one handful (roughly 200g) of stuffing for your turkey, then push the rest into the dish, spreading it out fairly evenly.
Use any extra herbs, nuts and dried fruits you have to decorate the top, pushing them in with your fingers. Drizzle with a little oil to help it crisp up, then pop in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
Bake at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 at the bottom of the oven so you get a really crispy base, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.