A baked Italian stuffing built on two loaves of day-old bread, sweet soppressata, mushrooms and a full 16 ounces of low-moisture mozzarella is one of the dishes in Food Network’s roundup of viral Thanksgiving recipes from TikTok influencers. The recipe belongs to Nonna Gracie, whose real name is Grace Geramita, and she describes it as a family stuffing about 100 years old. Reader’s Digest wrote about it on Nov. 11, 2026.
The 16 ounces of mozzarella equals a pound of cheese, folded in last, in a pan that serves 10 to 12 people, according to Reader’s Digest. She shared the recipe in a Food Network TikTok video from the network’s Friendsgiving series, and she has more than 3 million followers.
A Cheesy Casserole Instead of Sage and Celery
Reader’s Digest describes the dish as cheesy and casserole-style rather than a traditional sage-and-celery stuffing. The base is two loaves of day-old pane di casa, an Italian house bread. Mushrooms and shallots are sauteed in olive oil with garlic powder, salt and pepper, and the mix also includes sweet soppressata, fresh parsley and eggs. A sister site lists 9 pies that show up on Thanksgiving tables across America.
One cup of freshly grated Pecorino Romano goes in too. Wikipedia describes that cheese as a hard, salty cheese made only from sheep’s milk and typically grated over pasta and other dishes. Frenz Hub has a list of 14 strange Thanksgiving traditions that everyone pretends aren’t weird.
The method, as Reader’s Digest laid it out, starts by dipping crustless pieces of bread in water and squeezing out the excess by hand. The bread is combined with the sauteed vegetables, soppressata, Pecorino and parsley and bound with eggs, and the mozzarella is folded in last. The mixture goes into a buttered 9-by-13-inch dish, topped with butter and olive oil, and baked for about 45 minutes until golden. It rests 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Frenz Hub also has a page titled single cup or full pot for fall mornings and holiday guests.
Who Nonna Gracie Is
Reader’s Digest reported that Geramita has made the dish since she was 10, when her mother taught her. She brought it with her when she moved from Italy to the United States at 18. Her grandson Matt Gresia began filming her cooking, and she now has more than 3 million followers. The outlet noted that she does not use a smartphone.
Food Network bills her as “The Internet’s Italian Grandmother” and says she has just released a cookbook, Sunday Dinner with Nonna Gracie. Its page says she learned the stuffing from her mother at age 10 and that the recipe is over 100 years old, which is the family’s account of the dish rather than a documented date.
Reader’s Digest also cited an Instagram video she posted on Wednesday, Nov. 4, in which she called the stuffing “So good” and “Very, very good.” Food Network’s TikTok video of the recipe is the one linked above.
Checking the Recipe Against USDA Stuffing Guidance
Because stuffing contains eggs and is served warm, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service guidance on stuffing is the standard to hold it against. It says stuffing should be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, checked with a food thermometer in the center of the dish. It also recommends cooking stuffing separately for optimal safety and uniform doneness, in an oven set no lower than 325 degrees, and putting it in the oven immediately after it is prepared.
Nonna Gracie’s version is baked separately in a dish, which matches USDA’s preference for cooking stuffing outside the bird. Nothing in the recipe as Reader’s Digest reported it conflicts with that guidance. The doneness cues given are about 45 minutes and a golden top, and color alone is not the USDA standard, which is the 165-degree reading in the center.
USDA also says wet and dry ingredients should not be mixed until just before stuffing or baking, and that uncooked stuffing should not be refrigerated; it should be frozen or cooked right away. This recipe moistens bread with water and binds it with eggs, so make-ahead plans that call for a day in the refrigerator before baking would go against that guidance. For leftovers, USDA says to refrigerate cooked stuffing within 2 hours, use it within 3 to 4 days and reheat it to 165 degrees, in an oven or microwave rather than a slow cooker.
Where Stuffing and Dressing Come From
Wikipedia defines stuffing, also called filling or dressing, as a mixture of herbs and a starch, usually bread, used to fill another food before cooking, or cooked separately as a side dish. It dates the word “stuffing” to 1538 and says “dressing” is a more recent term, from 1850, used in the United States. By that definition, a cheese-heavy Italian version baked in a pan sits inside a long tradition even if it looks little like sage-and-celery stuffing.
Frenz Hub has a comparison titled Free Up the Oven This Thanksgiving: COSORI vs Ninja Air Fryer vs Ninja Flip Toaster Oven.
A sister site has a list titled 8 things never to put in a garbage disposal before Thanksgiving cooking.
A Light Reality Check
The headline number is the cheese, and it is exact: 16 ounces, or a pound, of low-moisture mozzarella, per Reader’s Digest. The age is a family claim, the follower count comes from Reader’s Digest, and the TikTok appeal is documented by Food Network featuring the recipe in its series. The recipe is a family dish shared on social media, and USDA’s temperature rule applies to it as it does to any stuffing.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Helena Jacoba – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
