The most flavorful ciabatta stuffing ever, made with day-old stale ciabatta bread. It has crispy pancetta, fresh herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, and 2 kinds of cheese for lots of flavor. Read the notes below for make-ahead tips and substitutions.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Ingredients
1stickunsalted butter, (½ cup), divided
6ozpancetta, chopped (bacon or prosciutto would work too)
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped pancetta and cook until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
Add 6 tablespoons butter to the pancetta drippings in the skillet, and add onion, celery, sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, sage, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
Add broth and bring to a boil. Then remove from heat.
Whisk eggs and parsley together in a large bowl. Add cubed bread, pancetta, vegetable/broth mixture, and gruyere. Stir gently until just combined, avoid over-stirring so that that bread doesn't completely fall apart.
Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.
Notes
Make-ahead stuffing: You can prepare steps 1-6 ahead up to a day in advance and bake before serving.Ingredient substitutions:
Bacon: If using bacon, make sure to get it nice and crispy, and maybe reduce the butter by 1 tablespoon.
Sun-dried tomatoes: If you can only find oil-packed tomatoes, you can dab them as dry as possible with a paper towel, and consider reducing the butter by ½ - 1 tablespoon.
Herbs: Feel free to use other herbs instead of sage and rosemary. You can also use dry rosemary and sage, just reduce the amount a little.