Thanksgiving Turkey Alternative: Italian Stuffed Beef
Sometimes I can't believe how fast time flies. I think my time stopped in September and the next time I looked (I mean really looked) at the calendar, it was already November. I had to tear away two months from the calendar hanging in our stock room. Too many things happened between those months, a cousin-in-law's wedding, passing away of my mother-in-law, birthdays, visiting friends, trips and just the daily grind that keeps me on my toes all the time. Life gives us bad things and good things but in the end, we are always grateful for what we have at present and that is what Thanksgiving Day is for.
So here I am, in front of the computer, silently pondering on the innumerable things I am thankful for. My family and I passed a roller coaster period the past months but hey, my husband, kids and dog are all healthy and we are able to put food on our table everyday. I think that is what really counts for living a good life and I am truly grateful for these blessings. And I also am incredibly appreciative of what had transpired from blogging to real work.
I joined Thanksgiving (the site) at the beginning of October and in turn, I created recipes that can be good ideas for the Thanksgiving spread that you are thinking of. If you haven't planned yet what to prepare for that special day, hop on to Thanksgiving and check out the site. Italy doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving but along with the Americans, the other parts of the world celebrating this day, I will be celebrating it my own way with my family. After all, stopping for a day and gathering the family together is one special reason to celebrate life.
This Italian Stuffed Beef or Polpettone in Italian is the first recipe that I am sharing here. It is a series of 6 including a drink, a side dish, salad, appetizer and dessert. This polpettone is a traditional Sicilian meat dish, composed of ground meat (pork and beef) and stuffed with practically anything you want. Hams, cheese, vegetables, eggs are the usual with varieties on what kind you use. Some also put some tomato sauce while some just use wine to make the sauce like this one. There are polpettone that are wrapped with very thin slices of tenderized beef like what I did or some don't, like my husband's family. In fact polpettone is both my kids' favorite dish when they go to their Nonna's or Zia's house. Now that their Nonna is gone, my son is obliging me to come up with the exact polpettone that they grew up with. My mother-in-law taught me once hands-on but it's something that I almost don't make because it's one of the dishes that my kids look forward in eating in her house.
To get the Italian Stuffed Beef recipe, you can go to Thanksgiving. I'll be posting the other 5 dishes with the recipe links to Thanksgiving after this so come back and check them out!
More Stuffed Meat Recipes:
