Last week I made my first ever Thanksgiving meal. Thirteen hungry diners crammed into my living room for turkey, cranberry sauce, apple sauce, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans and the best stuffing ever. I cannot really take credit for the amazing and life changing stuffing, as I simply reproduced a recipe Mamma Parla invented last year, adapting the old family recipe and substituting the best available Roman ingredients. Here is the recipe:

Cut 1 loaf of pane di Lariano from Roscioli into three-quarter inch cubes. Spread on large baking sheets, prinkle with olive oil from Umbria made from hand picked olives pressed three days before. Toast in the oven on 350F until crunchy. Melt half a stick of butter in a pan and cook three chopped celery stalks and two diced yellow onions until soft. Mix with the croutons in a large bowl. In the same pan, brown 2lbs of sweet pork sausage from Sartor in Testaccio. Add to the crouton, celery, and onion mixture. To this add homemade chicken stock half a cup at a time until the bread is moist but not soggy. Pour the whole concoction into a buttered baking pan and cook on 350F covered for 30 minutes. Uncover for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time to form a top crust. Serve hot.