What's Mario Batali Cooking For Thanksgiving This Year?

In the Batali household, Thanksgiving is a predictably big day. We had the chance to chat with the superstar chef and TV personality, and he clued us in on his plan for this year's festivities.

"Every year I choose a different region of Italy to highlight," he told us. "This year will be the area between Montepulciano and Arezzo."

So what's on the menu? "Instead of roasting a turkey, I'll be making a turkey porchetta," he said. "I'll take a 20-pound turkey, debone it, then use the legs and thighs, along with pancetta and pork fat, to make a sausage, which I'll stuff it with. Then I'll roll the whole thing up and roast it in my pizza oven for an hour and a half. And because I have the bones I'll roast them, too, and make a stock with them, which I'll use to make a gravy, with some fennel in it, then I'll serve it with a fennel gratin."

Now that's the right way to prepare a turkey!

But that's not all: "On the side we'll have fregole, a gratin of cavolo nero, bruschetta, and ravioli," he added. "And I'll be washing it down with a whole lot of '97 Brunello."

How do we get an invite?