1 large chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon thyme

For the chicken stuffing

6 cups of Italian-style country bread, diced
1/4 cup milk*
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Vegetable oil for baking the chicken

* In Molise milk was not used (This is a North American adaptation), some people used water and those who could afford it added more eggs to the stuffing if need be

Cut the bread in slices and chop them up (If the crust is too thick, cut some of it off).

Moisten the bread with milk (or water).

Beat the eggs and add to the bread mixture, if it's too hard add extra milk (or extra eggs, Italian style).

Add Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.

Place half of the stuffing in the chicken cavity and half under the skin of the chicken.

Close the cavity and then season the chicken with salt, pepper and thyme.

Oil a baking pan and place the stuffed chicken it.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.

Serve warm, or cold.

Prior to World War II this recipe was generally done if one were going on a pilgrimage and/or going on a short trip. Obviously Southern Italians would not use milk to moisten the bread, they might use water, but not milk (Milk was used sparingly and only drunk by young children). They might also use less eggs. And as for pepper, well, they might have used dried chillies but pepper was store-bought and so expensive... In any case, this is how my mother did this recipe in Montreal. Actually my mother prefers to use as many eggs as is needed to soften-up the bread but I found the result too sharp for my palate. In Italy modifications were made because of cost, in North America, they're made because of personal preferences. However, some things don't change.... As far as I understand this style of stuffed chicken was generally eaten cold as kind of "picnic" food -- the chicken was brought along whole, and then cut when the family was ready to eaten, often on the side of a road. While the chicken was eaten with bread, it was not tucked in a "sandwich." Generally Italians at that time placed their cured meats or cheese on one slice of bread, not two. On special occasions like baptisms, Holy Communion and Confirmations they would have "pannini" but that was reserved for these special events. Generally "pannini" were bought at the bakery, and as most farmers preferred to make their own bread (was cheaper) they wouldn't eat pannini unless the occasion merited it. Photo: by the contributor.

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