Mama Jo’s Italian Meat Stuffing

I grew up on Mama Jo’s stuffing! Mama Jo was just that…a second Mama to me growing up. She had that amazing Italian laugh that filled your heart with joy!

Mama Jo was the one responsible for cooking for all the major functions at my church growing up. Whenever I smelled food, Mama Jo was the one who was sweating behind the burner and cooking for the hundreds. Nothing she ever made was gross. I loved watching her move around in the kitchen; a dance that only a true cook had mastered.

My love for cooking, undoubtedly, came from watching Mama Jo.

Every Thanksgiving I knew that Mama Jo was going to bring over her unbelievable meat stuffing. I must have been Paleo-at-heart as a child because I never did like bread stuffing. My daddy loved putting cranberry sauce on top of this meat stuffing. This cranberry recipe looks delish and so does this one.

Mama Jo gave me permission to share her recipe. I hope you love it just as much as I do! It makes a big pot of stuffing, so plenty to share with a big group.

Mama Jo’s Italian Meat Stuffing (Primal)

3 1/2 lbs of ground beef

3/4lbs of ground sausage

1 bunch of celery hearts (chopped fine)

2 medium onions (chopped fine)

2 cups of parmesan cheese

1 cup of pine nuts

1/2 cup of parsley

salt and pepper

1/2 cup of butter

3 splashes of my secret ingredient Red Boat Fish Sauce OR 2 ts of garlic salt

Instructions:

Brown the ground beef and the sausage in a large pot (my dutch oven was perfect for this). When brown, remove the meat and drain.

Melt 1/2 cup of butter in the same pot. Saute the celery, onions, and garlic until soft and translucent.

Add the meat mixture and all the other ingredients. Please don’t skimp on the pine nuts! These are what make this recipe so awesome!

This is where you add the secret ingredient. This was the only thing I had to find a substitute for. The real recipe called for Accent which isn’t necessarily Paleo, so I had to research this a bit. Accent is a flavor enhancer, so I thought, YES! My Red Boat Fish Sauce is my favorite enhancer.

I add it to every meat dish I make and it doesn’t make it taste fishy. It gives the meat flavor more depth! I added about 3 quick splashes to this recipe. If you don’t have fish sauce, or the thought just grosses you out (although you really should give it a try!) you could just add a few teaspoons of garlic salt for added flavor.

Mix everything together very well and then bake until heated through.

Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving y’all!

Other recipes you might like:

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Spanish Burgers

Chile Pork Tacos