An Easy Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Dinner - Part 2

In last week’s blog, I introduced Laurie’s and my “Make Ahead” Thanksgiving dinner that guarantees an easy, stress-free Thanksgiving for you and your guests and our recipes for delicious herb-roasted turkey breast and homemade gravy. Now let’s talk about the sides that make the meal!

Green beans with pancetta & shallots, cheesy mashed potato casserole, and bread & sausage stuffing

The turkey always gets top billing at Thanksgiving, but I think the sides are what really make Thanksgiving dinner special and memorable. But you can have too much of a good thing, and many Thanksgiving menus feature six or more sides. Besides being unnecessary and ridiculously time-consuming to make in the kitchen, it’s almost impossible to try everything and not feel bloated once you are done!

The classic sides include stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes in various forms, one or two vegetable dishes or casseroles, dinner rolls, and cranberry sauce. Oh, and don’t forget about desert – apple pie, sweet potato pie, pecan pie, … the list goes on and on! For our easy make-ahead Thanksgiving dinner, we did serious triage on this list and focused in on three traditional sides, all of which could be made ahead of time and then simply heat them up about an hour before you are sit down to enjoy your feast!

Our make-ahead sides for this meal include cheesy mashed potato casserole, bread and sausage stuffing, and green beans with pancetta and shallots. And not only are these sides great for Thanksgiving dinner, but they are perfect year-round – for example, we love the potatoes with homemade meatloaf, the green beans with prosciutto and asiago stuffed chicken breasts, and the stuffing for a tasty breaded stuffing ball appetizer.

I guarantee you that each one of these make-ahead sides will end up on your regular rotation once you taste them this Thanksgiving! Enjoy these recipes and let me know how they all turned out for you! And Happy Thanksgiving!!

Green Beans with Pancetta and Shallots (Serves 6)

These green beans feature haricot vert, or French green beans. They are slender and more tender than traditional green beans. To make ahead, I parboil the beans in salted water for a minute or two and sauté the pancetta and then the shallots in the fat left over in the pan from the pancetta. Then, simply reheat the beans in a skillet and the pancetta/shallot mixture in the microwave a few minutes before you are ready to serve dinner – it’s as easy as that!

Ingredients

1 lb. haricot vert

6 oz. diced pancetta

3 medium shallots, sliced thin

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Heat 6 cups of water in a large saucepan along with the kosher salt on high heat and bring to a boil. Add the haricot vert and parboil for 1 ½ minutes – drain in a colander and run cold water over the green beans to stop the cooking and cool them down. Once cooled, wrap in paper towels and refrigerate until ready to heat and serve.

Cook the pancetta in a 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat until pancetta is nicely browned and the fat has been rendered. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the shallots to the pan with the rendered fat and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are lightly brown in color. Remove from the pan and add to the pancetta. Place the pancetta-shallot mixture in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat the oil in a 12-inch sauté pan over medium high heat until shimmering. Meanwhile, microwave the pancetta-shallot mixture until hot. Add the haricot vert to the pan and sauté until heated through and browned in spots, about 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the beans to a serving dish and sprinkle the pancetta-shallot mixture over the top of the beans. Serve immediately.

Grandma’s Stuffing (Serves 8)

These is a recipe Laurie adapted from her grandmother’s famous stuffing that she made every Thanksgiving. Laurie made the recipe her own (and easier to make!) by using packaged stuffing mix instead of drying white, wheat, and cinnamon-raisin breads, and tinkering with the liquid and seasoning to ensure a moist, tasty stuffing every time. And if you can find it, use Jones Original Roll Sausage made in Wisconsin – it’s what Laurie’s grandma would have wanted!

Ingredients

1 bag Pepperidge Farm Country Style Cubed Stuffing (12oz bag, 7 cups)

1 ½ cups chopped celery

1 ½ cups white onion, chopped

1 egg lightly beaten

½ cup whole milk

1 lb. bulk roll sausage (Jones Original roll sausage if you can find it, Jimmy Dean if you can’t)

2 tablespoons poultry seasoning

2 cups turkey or chicken stock

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the cubed stuffing, onion, celery, and poultry seasoning.

Heat a 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat, and then add the sausage to the skillet. Break the sausage up with a wooden spoon and stir occasionally until cooked through and browned. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the sausage to the bowl, along with the stock and milk. Mix well – the stuffing should be moist but not wet. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Then add the egg and stir to combine. Place mixture in a 9 x 13 in. pan, cover, and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the stuffing in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Check to ensure stuffing is browned and crispy on top. If not, keep uncovered until browned and then cover for remainder of cooking time. Continue baking for another 30 minutes until heated through. Serve immediately.

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole (Serves 6-8)

This recipe was inspired by Barfoot Contessa’s Parmesan Smashed Potatoes recipe from her very first cookbook. I adapted her recipe by using Yukon Gold instead of red potatoes (I like the smoother texture better), substituting crème fraiche instead of sour cream (for extra creaminess), adding Boursin Garlic and Fine Herb Cheese and fresh chives into the mix, and making it a casserole so the potatoes can be prepared ahead of time and then simply baked when you are ready. The result is the creamiest, tastiest potatoes you will ever eat!

Ingredients

3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes

1 tbsp. kosher salt

¼ lb. salted butter

1 cup half-and-half

8 oz. crème fraiche

5 oz. Boursin Garlic and Fine Herb Cheese

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

¼ cup finely diced fresh chives

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place the potatoes (skin on) in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add 1 tbsp. kosher salt and then bring water and potatoes to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the potatoes, covered for about 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, heat the half-and-half and butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

Drain the potatoes and add to the bowel of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until the potatoes are broken up. Slowly add the half-and-half and butter mixture to the potatoes, mixing on low until fully incorporated. Add the Boursin and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and fold into the potatoes with a spatula. Then, fold in the crème fraiche and chives. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste.

Place the mashed potato mixture into an 8 x 8 in. ovenproof baking dish, and top with the remaining ¾ cup Parmesan cheese. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the potatoes in the oven, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Check to ensure the cheese is browning on top. Cover loosely with foil and bake for another 15 minutes, until potatoes are hot and bubbling slightly. Serve immediately.