Panettone Dressing Squares Recipes

PANETTONE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cut the panettone into 3/4-inch squares and place in large bowl. Melt half of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and continue to cook until light brown, about 5 minutes.
• Take off the heat and add half the sage. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the sage butter over the bread and toss gently but swiftly. Spread out on 2 cooking sheets and place in the oven until light brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place back into the bowl.
• Meanwhile, place the dried fruit in a large bowl; add boiling water to cover and then set aside for at least 10 minutes. This will plump and soften the fruit for cooking. Drain fruit once plumped.
• Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
• Melt the remaining butter and add onion, celery, and carrot. Saute on medium-low heat until soft. Add dried fruit and remaining sage. Toss into cooled croutons. Gently toss and add chicken broth to moisten; add more broth if you like a softer stuffing. Stir in beaten eggs now, if using. Adjust salt and pepper, to your liking. Turn out into an oven-proof casserole.
• Bake uncovered until golden brown on top, about 40 minutes.

PANETTONE

Steps:

• Grease a panettone tin (see Tip) or a 20cm deep cake tin, or use a panettone case.
• Place the warm milk in a bowl and add the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar and leave for a few minutes.
• Put the remaining sugar in a large bowl and beat together with the butter and vanilla extract until really light, creamy and pale.
• Stir in the lemon and orange zest. Add the eggs a little at a time until all are well incorporated. Spoon in a tablespoon of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle and beat this in with the eggs.
• Place the flour in a large bowl and mix with a good pinch of salt and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture then the butter and egg mixture, folding in with a large spoon to make a soft dough. Knead for 5 mins in the bowl until it all starts to come together. It will be a pretty sticky dough at this stage.
• Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a further 10 mins, until everything has come together and you have a very soft and stretchy dough. Add a light sprinkling of flour to the surface and your hands as you go to stop the mixture sticking, but try not to add too much. Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover. Place in the fridge overnight to prove.
• Place the raisins and sultanas in a small saucepan with the rum and heat gently for 5 - 7 mins until the fruit has absorbed the liquid and is plump and juicy. Set aside to cool.
• When the dough is risen, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for another 5 mins. Gradually knead in the soaked raisins, sultanas and chopped candied peel. Shape the dough into a ball and pop into the prepared tin. If using a 20cm cake tin, wrap a layer of baking parchment around the outside of the tin, to come up about 5cm above the rim, and secure the paper with string. This will help contain the dough as it rises. Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise for 3-4 hours depending on your room temperature, until it has doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Adjust the oven shelf to the right height. Mix together the almonds, caster sugar and egg white for the topping and gently brush over the top of the panettone. Place in the oven and bake for 40 - 50 mins until golden and risen and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before dusting lightly with icing sugar and cutting into wedges to serve.

PANETTONE DRESSING SQUARES

Steps:

• Peel and halve the shallots (or peel and quarter the onions) and quarter and core the apples, and roughly cut up the pancetta (or bacon). Drop the shallot or onion and the apple pieces into the bowl of a food processor along with the celery stalks, snapped in half, and the sage leaves, and process in a short burst to start the chopping, before adding the roughly cut pancetta (or bacon), and then blitz at full speed until finely chopped. Don't worry about the mixture's wetness; mush is what I expect. You can chop everything by hand, though; in which case, don't expect to get everything as ground up as it would in the processor. Anything goes.
• Heat the garlic-flavored oil in a wide, heavy frying pan and fry this mixture, stirring every now and again, for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables et al. have softened. Remove the fried mixture to a large bowl, crumble in the chestnuts, grate in the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice, then tear and crumble in the panettone, and-I use my hands for this-combine everything into a squidgy, fragrant paste. (If you're making this in advance, leave it to cool at this stage, then cover and transfer to the refrigerator where it can stand for up to 2 days.)
• When you are ready to cook this, preheat the oven to 400°F and let the dressing come to room temperature. Uncover the bowl, beat the eggs and mix them in, then spread the mixture into a foil pan or lightly greased ovenproof dish, and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges brown and begin to come away from the pan or dish and a cake tester comes out clean.
• For appetizers, let the pan cool for 30 minutes and then cut into 48 little bite-sized squares-or into 24 larger pieces to accompany roasted meat, if you'd prefer.