In the Czech kitchen: Grandma-approved Easter stuffing recipe

For the best texture, bread cubes should be browned in butter and cooled, ideally overnight to dry out without hardening. Browning brings out the flavor and firms up the crust so that the bread cubes don't get soggy when combined with wet ingredients. The color also makes a lovely pattern when you cut into it.
Soaking the bread is an important step. Moisten with just a drizzle of milk to avoid a uniform muddy mass with no structure. At Eska, rolls are drizzled with cream; at Pastacaffé they recommend adding stock to the milk to enhance flavor.
If too much milk or cream soaks into the rolls, very gently squeeze out the excess liquid. Avoid adding flour to a thin mixture, otherwise, you might end up with a stiff dumpling-like filling. You can also sprinkle baking powder or fresh yeast on the moistened bread and the filling will rise nicely.
The stuffing deserves plenty of fat, especially if you're baking it minus meat. Mix your beat egg yolks and soften butter before adding to the stuffing. The emulsion coats the bread and perfectly binds all the ingredients, which are then salted, peppered, and sprinkled with nutmeg.
The umami flavor of the smoked meat intensifies the flavor of the stuffing. Ambiente chefs opt for Prague ham, beef fat, bacon, or smoked pork flank, which they pan fry beforehand in sautéed onions. The smoked meat flavor enhances the stuffing and the fat is released in the process. The chefs at Eska also rely on the fat left over from the production of Prague ham cracklings for seasoning.
A handful of fresh herbs are a must! The Easter version calls for young nettles, which are blanched and finely chopped, or briefly heated in a pan with the roasted smoked meat. You can also pick parsley, lovage, basil, and spinach or bear garlic.
The stuffing's fluffy consistency is achieved by whipping the egg whites until stiff and then gently folding them into the bread with egg yolks, herbs, and smoked meat. It's key that the stuffing doesn't dry out. A tip: before baking, lay slices of cold herbed butter on top, which will slowly absorb into the bread to create a crispy crust.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a baking with butter and set aside.
Chop the rolls into medium-sized cubes and place them in a bowl. Moisten with a drizzle of cream. In a separate bowl, crack the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.
Whisk the egg yolks with the butter and add to the cream-moistened cubes.
Rinse the nettles thoroughly, briefly scald them with hot water, then immediately rinse with cold water. Chop the drained leaves into smaller pieces and add them to the other ingredients.
Add smoked meat and finely chopped onion, grated garlic, and chopped herbs to the bread mixture. Sprinkle with baking powder and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks and mix them with the other ingredients.
Spread the mixture into the tin and bake for about 40 minutes.

At Lokal Hamburg, almonds are added to the stuffing; they crisp up nicely and add texture.
First Republic cookbooks devote whole chapters to stuffing and cooking it with liver and veal, crayfish, oysters, raisins, or chestnuts. Other stuffings are flavored with grated or finely chopped lemon rind or even anchovies.
Easter stuffing is also called "hlavička" (little head), because the original recipes included veal heads. In the Podkrkonoší region, this was the name given to thick, cooled semolina porridge into which eggs, boiled kid offal or meat, and herbs such as parsley, chives nettles were mixed in.