Artichoke Parmesan Sourdough Stuffing {Or “Dressing” actually!}

If I was trapped in some horribly unrealistic nightmare and could only chose one and only one thing to eat off of the Thanksgiving table, I would undoubtedly choose the stuffing.  It’s been my favorite thing about thanksgiving since I was a kid.  I don’t even like pumpkin pie or (gasp!) turkey all that much!  But stuffing?  Ohhh I could eat a whole lot of stuffing (or dressing if you must.  I call it all stuffing whether it’s stuffed in the bird or not!)   My family has been making the same stuffing recipe for years and a few Thanksgivings ago my sister and I experimented by using sourdough bread, tangy lemon juice, and lots of fresh herbs.  It was amazing, so for the past few years I’ve been perfecting that version.  I had planned to share my recipe with you until last week when curiosity got the best of me and I tried out this recipe I found on-line.  I was intrigued because it had some of my favorite flavors, but ones I wouldn’t expect to see in a stuffing recipe: Parmesan cheese and marinated artichoke hearts.  But aside from that, the bones of the recipe were very similar to my own sourdough stuffing so I had a feeling it would be good.  And it was  The parmesan is subtle and the artichokes add flavor without taking over the whole thing.  It all blended together in one delicious dish.  Take a look at Kate’s Italian Sausage Thanksgiving Dressing too- with a completely different flavor profile it’s equally delicious in a different way!  I made it last year and absolutely loved it.  Heck, make both and skip the salad.

You’ll want to chop up your sourdough bread into about 1/2 inch pieces.

This step isn’t included in the recipe, but I chose to lightly toast my bread first since it was a brand new loaf and I was afraid it would just turn to mush when I tried to stir things together if I didn’t.  Plus I love the texture of semi crunchy, semi soft bread in stuffing.

While the bread is toasting, melt some butter in a hot skillet

and add in garlic, onions, celery, and mushrooms.  The recipe calls for 1 lb of mushrooms, sliced.  I’m not a huge mushroom fan, so I did about 12 ounces (chopped, not sliced) and added more celery instead.

While the veggies are cooking, you can prepare your other ingredients (three of my most favorite things!) Parmesan cheese, fresh rosemary (you could use dried), and marinated artichoke hearts.

Now back to those vegetables, when they’re tender they can go into a bowl.

And then you add broth and seasonings

and bread, Parmesan, rosemary, and artichokes.

After you stir it all up give it a good taste and adjust the seasonings if you need to, when it’s perfect, add in the beaten egg.

Stir it to combine well and then put it in a 9×13 baking dish.  At this point you can cover it and pop it in the fridge, so feel free to make it a day ahead of time and save yourself some work on Thanksgiving morning!

If you like soft stuffing, cover the pan during baking.  I like my stuffing lightly toasted on top and nice and soft underneath so bake uncovered.

Keep warm until ready to serve and then dig in!