Versatile festive stuffing
Take it two ways
1 hr 15 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 20
About the recipe
This is my clever little stuffing recipe that can be made once, then split and taken in two directions – helpful if you’re feeding both veggie and meat-eaters. Packed with chestnuts, dried fruit and loads of festive flavours, you can use it to stuff your turkey, or bake as it is for a gorgeous side. Lovely.
Ingredients
6 onions
olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch of fresh sage (30g)
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
100g dried sour cranberries
1 x 180g packet chestnuts
1 x 100g packet dried apple
2 clementines
330ml dry cider
800g stale bread
1kg higher-welfare pork sausagemeat
Top Tip
You can switch the cider for whisky, wine, or port, if that floats your boat. Or leave it out entirely, if you want to keep it booze-free.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.
- Peel and quarter the onions, then place in the bowl of a food processor with a pinch of sea salt and blitz until chopped, but not too fine.
- Place a large pan on a medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter. Tear in the sage leaves (keep the stalks for the trivet later) and grate in half of the nutmeg. When the sage is brown, add the onions and cook for 15 minutes, until golden and sweet. Don’t rush this part, this is where you amplify the flavour.
- Now let’s ramp up the Christmassy flavours: tip in the cranberries, and crumble in the chestnuts. Thinly slice the dried apples and add to the pan with a big pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Finely grate in the zest of both the clementines (save one for step 8 and the other for your turkey trivet) and pour in the cider. Let the cider bubble away until lovely and shiny, then leave to cool completely.
- Tear the stale bread into small chunks, place in a food processor and blitz into breadcrumbs (you might need to do this in batches). Tip into a baking tray or dish and add the onion mixture. Use clean hands to really scrunch and mix everything together.
- Take half of the stuffing and press it into an oiled bundt tin or baking dish.
- Add the sausagemeat to the remaining stuffing and use your hands to scrunch everything together. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, then scrunch it all up until well combined. Take a third of the stuffing and place it in a pretty baking dish. Cut one of the zested clementines in half and push, skin-side down into the centre of the stuffing. (Use the remaining stuffing to stuff your turkey).
- Pop both dishes in the oven to cook for 50 minutes, or until bubbling and crispy. If you’re doing it as part of your Christmas lunch, you want to put it in at the same time as your spuds.
- Once done, you can pour away any excess fat before serving, if you like. It will be soft, juicy and succulent on the inside, then gnarly, crispy and chewy on the outside. Enjoy!
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