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When I was growing up, my grandmother and mother always made a traditional Thanksgiving stuffing (also known as "filling," depending on your generation or where you grew up).
This consisted of lots of bread cubes mixed with copious amounts of sautéed celery and onions softened from being sautéed in melted butter and mixed with seasonings.
Mom would rinse out the turkey and blot the insides dry with paper towels (one Thanksgiving many years ago we found one or two, abandoned deep inside behind the stuffing, to my mother's horror and my family's laughter, when serving the bird).
Mom would mix the filling and then pack it into the turkey until it was full (remember to remove the paper towels first!). Whatever stuffing remained was baked into a casserole dish, making for even more wonderful leftovers.
Years later, my sister took over creating Thanksgiving dinner for our family and introduced us to potato filling, aka mashed potato filling, and we were sold. Buttery mashed potatoes replaced about three-quarters of the bread cubes used in mom's stuffing, resulting in a more moist, creamy, rich accompaniment to our Thanksgiving feast. After all, what could be more comforting in autumn and winter than potato dishes?
Not that potato filling was anything completely new to us. Living in Pennsylvania, we were more than aware of PA Dutch-style potato filling. We were even served it seasonally with our Thanksgiving school lunches.
Not a fan of turkey? No problem. This dish pairs perfectly with roast chicken and your favorite roasted vegetables. Now that I cook our family Thanksgiving dinners, it's a regular staple on the menu. I often make it with our Christmas dinner as well.
The grocery list is short: you'll need less than a bag of white potatoes, about two sticks of butter, three to four stalks of celery, one large onion, five to six slices of day-old white or Italian bread, fresh parsley (you can substitute with dried if that's what you have on hand), a splash of milk or half and half, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of paprika for color.
My mother taught me to always dot the top with little bits of butter before baking so that the top browned up nicely. You can add your favorite seasonings to your liking, but I really prefer mine straight up with only some salt and pepper and a little bit of parsley.
Assembly is simple. You make a batch of mashed potatoes in one pot and in another you sauté the onions and celery, add bread cubes, and then mix it all together and bake.
Ingredients:
For the mashed potatoes:
6 lbs. peeled and diced white potatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk or half & half
1 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (and more to taste)
Salt & pepper
For the celery mixture:
3 stalks celery, washed and diced
1 large onion, diced
3/4 stick of butter and more if needed
6 slices of day old white or Italian bread, cubed
Paprika
Directions:
In a large saucepan melt 3/4 stick of butter. Add the diced celery and onion and cook on medium-low heat until onion is translucent and celery is soft. The mixture should be very moist with butter. If not, add a bit more butter. Once cooked, turn off the heat and set aside.
In a large pot, add the diced potatoes and cover with water. Add one teaspoon of salt. Bring potatoes to a boil and then simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-soft. Drain the potatoes. Mash the potatoes in the pot or transfer to a mixer. Add the butter and milk a little at a time while mashing the potatoes. Mash or mix until soft. Add parsley and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Tear the bread into large crouton-sized pieces and then add the bread to the pot with the softened celery, onions, and butter. Stir to combine.
Add the bread/celery mixture to the mashed potatoes and gently stir to combine.
Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray or coat with butter. Transfer the filling into the casserole dish with a spatula. Dot the top of the filling with small bits of butter here and there (I usually use one to two tablespoons of butter for this, depending on the surface area of my casserole dish). Sprinkle lightly with paprika.
Bake uncovered in a 350° F oven for 35 minutes or until top just begins to turn golden and slightly brown.
Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving!
-Laura
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