Thanksgiving<\/strong><\/a> since moving to the U.S. decades ago. This year, he\u2019ll celebrate in North Carolina, blending a few beloved Italian staples with classic Thanksgiving favorites like turkey, stuffing and all the fixings. For Chef Mazza, consistency is key\u2014his family prepares the same cherished dishes each year, with everyone joining in to cook and share the meal together. Below, he shares his favorite tips for creating a delicious and memorable Thanksgiving at home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
You\u2019re the chef in the family, but does the entire family get involved for Thanksgiving?
\n<\/strong>The night before, we delegate a job to the kids, so they know what they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s fun.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s your essential Thanksgiving dish?<\/strong>
\nI do pumpkin gnocchi with the squash, butter, a lot of sage, and walnuts. My kids love it, and they are waiting for Thanksgiving so we can make it together. My kids love to cook with me.<\/p>\nDescribe the process for making the gnocchi.
\n<\/strong>Everybody peels the potatoes, and then we mix it with the flour and the eggs. And then we roast the pumpkin and make a puree, and mix it with the potato, so the gnocchi becomes nice and juicy. The sauce is simple. We use butter, sage and parmigiano cheese. And then for dessert we use the leftover pumpkin puree to make a cheesecake, mixing it with ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar and flour.<\/p>\nWhat are your personal tricks for a juicy turkey<\/strong>?
\nI always buy an organic turkey. The trick is to marinate it overnight with water, honey, and sea salt, and give it a 12-hour bath. This 12-hour bath is very important. I also put some orange, lemon, and fresh bay leaves in the bath. In the morning, we stuff it with rosemary, bay leaves and vegetables, and put butter on the top and the bottom. Then I roast the turkey nice and easy on low temperatures. With the bones from the turkey, I make a broth with a lot of vegetables. And all the juices from the turkey, I throw inside the stock.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong>Stuffing is a personal choice. How do you prepare your stuffing?<\/strong>
\nI do my stuffing with\u00a0sausage, celery, onion, bread, and sometimes chestnuts since they are in season. And a lot of butter. We also make fresh bread for that day, though in our family, we make fresh bread once a week.<\/p>\nYour best advice for Thanksgiving?<\/strong>
\nCook together with the family, it\u2019s a beautiful thing. The kids will never forget it. It\u2019s a tradition that I keep every year. After we eat, we play games and just be together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Angela Caraway-Carlton Even though Il Mulino\u2019s longtime Executive Chef Michele Mazza hails from southern Italy, he has wholeheartedly embraced the American tradition of Thanksgiving since moving to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":7199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99,100,101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epicurean","category-culture-events","category-family"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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