Italian Spinach Stuffing
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 5tablespoons olive oil
- 2cups chopped sweet onion (about 1 large onion)
- 8cloves garlic, minced
- 4(10-ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
- 2cups chopped white mushrooms caps
- Salt and black pepper
- 2pounds well-trimmed chicken or turkey gizzards
- 4large eggs
- 1½cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1cup unseasoned bread crumbs
- ½cup chopped parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)
263 calories; 13 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 24 grams protein; 541 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, spinach and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until well mixed and heated through, about 5 minutes. Season mixture to taste with salt and pepper; set aside.
- Step 2
Finely mince chicken gizzards. (You can do this by hand or in a food processor, but be careful not to overprocess.) Season gizzards all over with salt. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add gizzards and sauté, stirring often, until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain off any drippings, then stir gizzards into spinach mixture. Let cool to room temperature.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 350 degrees. When spinach mixture is cool, add eggs, cheese, bread crumbs and parsley and stir until well combined. Transfer stuffing to a 3-quart casserole dish and bake, covered, 1 hour.
- If you like, about half the stuffing can be loosely stuffed inside the cavity of a 12-pound turkey. Be sure to cook until both the turkey and the stuffing register 165 degrees on a thermometer.
Private Notes
Comments
My family (also Italian American, from Naples and the Piedmont region) uses a similar stuffing recipe, although we eschew the mushrooms and use ground sausage instead of turkey gizzards. I never knew anyone else who used such a similar recipe!
Similar to Denise's family, my Nonno was from Piedmont and a chef. His recipes used sausage and chestnuts. We thought the "green stuffing" was unique to our family -- who knew it was all over Italy!
Does anyone else feel like two pounds of gizzards is an awful lot for one dish? Looking at the handwritten recipe, it says "3 pkgs" which is crossed out and then at the right she has written "use only 2" which to me indicates using two PACKAGES of gizzards (that come out of a turkey)? And if it calls for 2 pounds of an ingredient then says you can "leave it out"—doesn't that seem odd? I feel like the gizzards should be the flavoring, not the major ingredient.
My grandmother made this, and we have all tried to re-create it over the years! I halve the recipe, add half a stick of cream cheese, and use chicken broth instead of gizzards, so delicious!
Same! Grandmother from the Piedmont, very similar recipe that we were always told was her ravioli stuffing recipe that she repurposed for Thanksgiving.
I made 1/2 the recipe using the giblets, neck and back meat from my spatchcocked Turkey. Did not have mushrooms. Used homemade stale whole wheat sourdough bread to make bread crumbs. Was fantastic. It's nice having a more vegetable based dressing with a little bread instead of a bread based dressing with a little veggie. Will definitely make again.
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