Faith Willinger

To try Faith's recipe for cornbread with a Tuscan twist, click here.

I've been inspired by Regina Charboneau's post about reinventing Thanksgiving. I've always loved making the meal and sharing it with American and Italian friends, but the first time I made a Thanksgiving turkey in Italy I had to measure my oven (small) to make sure the bird (large by Italian standards) would fit. And I discovered that my family and friends didn't really like turkey (leftovers seemed eternal) but loved the stuffing. So I started to modify Thanksgiving for my husband's Tuscan palate.

I bought a turkey breast and sliced away, making a large, not-too-neat one-inch-thick scallop. I piled plenty of stuffing in the middle, then wrapped the turkey around it and stitched loose ends together (I'm not good at sewing) to make what looked like a roast, then wrapped the whole thing in caul fat (subbing for turkey skin, adding a porky element, always a good idea). The result, when sliced, was a strip of moist turkey that surrounded the stuffing. It was a big hit.

I made cranberry sauce (cranberries from the U.S. are always in my freezer), which amused Italians and thrilled Americans, since it's rarer here than white truffles. Apple pie is familiar to Italians—it's the torta that Donald Duck's grandmother makes in the Topolino comics. My version is piled high with apples, lard crust. I take full advantage of just-pressed extra-virgin olive oil, almost phosphorescent green, peppery, like Tuscan wasabi. I make cornbread with last year's extra-virgin, baked in a cast-iron skillet schlepped from the U.S. Mashed-up ripe persimmons, served in a shot glass, are topped with ricotta cream—ricotta and a little milk blended with an immersion mixer to the consistency of sour cream, sweetened (or not) to taste.

Here's my menu and the recipe for olive-oil cornbread. Buon Giorno del Ringraziamento!

    • Tuscan kale crostini
    • Chicken liver crostini
    • Fettunta with just-pressed extra-virgin
    • Winter squash soup
    • Tuscan turkey with cornbread stuffing
    • Cranberry sauce
    • Tuscan cornbread
    • Beans with just-pressed extra-virgin
    • Swiss chard with garlic and peperoncino
    • Fruit salad—pears, apples, pomegranate seeds, black pepper
    • Apple pie
    • Persimmons with ricotta cream

Recipe: Tuscan Cornbread