At his restaurants Hearth and Insieme, chef Marco Canora creates and serves refined regional Italian dishes. The Thanksgiving menu he created for La Cucina Italiana, featured in the November 2009 issue, echoes that sensibility while never straying too far from the classics. Think fragrant roast turkey infused with sage and garlic; a caramelized leek stuffing made with rustic Italian bread; spicy broccoli rabe; and a pie that features pignolis in place of pecans yet is still sweet and gloriously gooey. 

Canora, whose mother is from Lucca in Tuscany, but who grew up in the Hudson Valley in New York, finds strong links between this classic American holiday and Italian tradition: both emphasize family and celebrate the glories of good food. Or, in the case of Canora's cooking: fabulous food.  For more recipes by Marco Canora, check out his new cookbook, Salt to Taste. For more about Marco Canora's Thanksgiving traditions, look here.  For a prep schedule for the menu, see below. 

Recommended wine pairings
Paul Grieco, co-creator of Marco Canora's restaurants and a renowned sommelier suggests the following wine parings with this festive menu:

I Clivi, Galea, 2003 (Friuli) with the roasted fennel soup.
Dama del Rovere, Spinaje, 2003 (Veneto) with the butternut squash risotto.
La Stoppa, Ageno, 2005 (Emilia-Romagna) with the turkey and sides.
Il Roncal, Verduzzo, 2006 (Friuli) with the pine nut tart.

Prep Schedule

2 days ahead:
Make Brodo if using
Roast and puree butternut squash for risotto
Prepare pie dough

1 day ahead: 
Dice butternut squash and mostarda for risotto
Blanch broccoli rabe
Make and puree soup
Saute leeks for stuffing
Steam cauliflower and squeeze out excess water for sformato
Make pine nut pie

6 hours ahead:
Saute mushrooms
Make sformato

5 hours ahead:
Let turkey stand at room temperature for 1 hour
Prepare and bake stuffing

4 hours ahead:
Chop onion and grate cheese for risotto
Roast turkey

1 to 2 hours ahead:
Seal mushrooms in parchment packets

30 minutes ahead:
Make gravy while turkey stands
Make risotto
Reheat soup

After soup and risotto courses: 
Heat mushrooms packets
Reheat stuffing and sformato (they can be reheated in the same over with mushrooms packets for 10 minutes)
Saute broccoli rabe

Photos by Nina Choi

November 2009

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thanksgiving, turkey, holiday, side dishes, marco canora, thanksgiving recipes