Three Ways with Stuffing

Christmas is the time to eat your fill of porky products with glazed ham, glossy chipolatas, rashers over your turkey to keep it moist and my most favourite thing of all - stuffing.  I get shivers of horror when I see readymade packets of "stuffing" in the supermarket which are nothing but a container of dusty breadcrumbs with a bit of dried onion and herbs thrown in.  It's so much easier to take 5 minutes and make your own.  Seriously, just 5 minutes.

In the interests of multi-tasking, I've come up with three different ideas to change the basic stuffing mix so you can feed your family, entertain a crowd and make your Christmas dinner delicious.  My one non-negotiable standpoint is that you use good sausagemeat with a really high meat content (75% minimum).  If you can't find sausagemeat, use sausages and just chuck the skins.  The other day I was in a discount frozen food retailer (think Stacey Solomon) where their sausagemeat was only 46% pork - that meant that over half of it was filler.  Would you really want to eat that???

Christmas Stuffing

400g Sausagemeat
100g Fresh Breadcrumbs
2 large Shallots, finely minced
1 stick Celery, finely minced
1 tbsp Sage, finely chopped
1 tbsp Thyme, finely chopped
1 tsp each Salt & Pepper

Mix all of your ingredients well together.*

Place in an oven-proof dish and flatten out.  Bake for 40 minutes at 190c/Gas Mark 5 until the top is golden and the stuffing has shrunk away slightly from the sides.

*To check for seasoning, fry a little ball in a pan until cooked & taste.  Adjust as necessary


Apricot & Pistachio Stuffing Balls

400g Sausagemeat
100g Dried Apricots, finely chopped
75g Pistachios, shelled, skinned & finely chopped
1 tbsp Sage, finely chopped
1 tsp Rosemary, finely chopped
1 tsp each Salt & Pepper

Mix all of your ingredients together*, roll into small balls and bake for 20 minutes at 190c/Gas Mark 5 until golden and cooked through.

*To check for seasoning, fry a little ball in a pan until cooked & taste.  Adjust as necessary

Sausage Rolls 

400g Sausagemeat
2 Shallots, finely minced
1 tbsp Sage, finely chopped
1 tbsp Thyme, finely chopped
1 tbsp Chives, finely snipped
1 tbsp Parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp each Salt & Pepper
1 sheet Puff Pastry
1 Egg, beaten

Preheat your oven to 200c / Gas Mark 6.

Mix the sausagemeat, shallots, herbs & seasoning together.

Cut the sheet of pastry in half lengthwise and then put half of the sausagemeat mixture along the length of each pastry half, in a long sausage shape. Fold the pastry over the sausagemeat and seal with a fork.  Cut the pastry into 2 inch pieces, glaze with a little beaten egg and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.