Thanksgiving, Italian style

Do you ever wonder what other cultures eat on the very North American tradition of Thanksgiving? Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Polish have perogies and the Indians have curry, because I know in my parent’s Italian home it’s not a holiday meal without pasta! I spoke with Donna Paris, another editor at the magazine – and fellow Italian – and she concurs that her family has the de rigueur pasta as well. I must point out that this is no small eating feat. To have a pasta dinner followed by a turkey with all of the trimmings is not a banquet for the faint (read: week) of heart, or small of stomach. It’s a marathon meal that takes stamina, a few days of fasting and an inside tip to not eat the bread in the bread basket if you want to make it to the finish line.

This year I spent the holiday at my parent’s home and there was a reduced version of our family attending. As the only sibling in attendance other than me has raised a family of turkey haters, we decided to go with an alternative menu this year. We felt compelled to involve poultry of some type and it was of course necessary to include an Italian flavour and the regulation pasta.

My sister made this lovely appetizer, a cornucopia of vegetables as a nod the pilgrims and natives, with a side of warm bagna cauda dip (a traditional Italian accompaniment to vegetables made from garlic, olive oil, anchovies and lemon).

I made the main course: quails that I de-boned and stuffed with chicken livers, shallots and chestnuts served with squash ravioli.

I roasted these mushrooms that my dad had foraged that morning and added them to the quails while they were braising.

I love cooking at my parent’s house because I always have great ingredients to choose from. My dad made this gorgeous pancetta and the fresh sage is from the garden. I combined it with some Marsala wine to make the sauce for the quails and the ravioli.

Here are the quails, boned and stuffed with chicken livers and chestnuts.

Here they are, browned and ready to go in the oven.

Served on the side was lettuce from my dad’s garden, cheese he cures himself (served with bosc pears from his tree in the yard) and of course my homemade pumpkin pie (not revised in any way, it was actually a real and delicious pumpkin pie).

Here is an easy version of bagna cauda if you want to try it: In a food processor, combine 2 cloves of garlic, about 8 anchovy fillets, 1/2 cup of butter, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and the juice of one lemon. Puree until it is well blended, Scrape into a pot or microwaveable bowl and heat to just below boiling point. Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables.
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