Overview:
By: Antonia
Meal Type: Accompaniment
Cook time: 25 Minutes
Servings: 6 - 8
All part of our plans to have you fully prepared for Christmas, this moreish stuffing is rich with the seasonal flavours of chestnuts and apples and makes a great accompaniment to festive poultry. The fruity flavour pairs especially well with goose although it is equally good with the more usual turkey. This is one to firmly tick off the list well ahead of time, and freeze!
"This is very easy to prepare and can be made well in advance and frozen, giving the Christmas chef one less task on the day itself! The recipe makes enough to stuff the neck of a turkey but I actually prefer to cook meaty stuffings separately in a dish (or rolled into balls) so that you get a nice crispy top and can be sure that it is heated through thoroughly." Antonia
Ingredients:
You may need...
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Lidded sauté pan - This is the best one that you will ever use!
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Ovenproof dish - Try our loaf tins?
Method:
- Melt the butter and oil in a sauté pan on the simmering plate. Finely chop the onion and fry gently for a couple of minutes before placing the lid on top and transferring to the simmering oven for 15 minutes. Peel and chop the apple into small dice and add to the onion for the final 5 minutes cooking time. Set aside to cool.
- Roughly chop the chestnuts and add to a large bowl along with the sausage meat, sage, breadcrumbs, egg and cooled onion and apple mixture. Mix thoroughly – I find this easiest to do with my hands.
- Check for seasoning: take a small piece of the mixture and fry in a touch of oil. Taste and then season with salt and pepper as necessary.
- At this point, you can freeze the stuffing*. If cooking straight away, pile into an ovenproof dish, decorate with a few reserved sage leaves and cook in the roasting oven with grid shelf on the bottom runners for approximately 25 minutes**.
* Our Aluminium Loaf Tins can be frozen, not our Black Iron Loaf tins.
Antonia's Tips:
**If cooking the stuffing in a dish on Christmas Day, you may find it takes a little longer to cook due to the number of other things in the ovens. It is done when the top is nicely browned and crisp and the stuffing piping hot inside.
If you have a 3 or 4 oven Aga range cooker, you could cook the stuffing at the top of the baking oven to save space in the roasting oven.
If freezing the stuffing, you can either freeze directly in a dish (check if it is freezer proof) ready to bake or pile into a freezer bag and flatten out so that it takes up minimal space in your freezer!
This nourishing recipe has been scribed and tested by community member Antonia, who is a hard working mum with two boys. Her recipes are trialed in her much loved Aga range cooker and devoured by her family, allowing Antonia to provide accurate tips and advice on how to make the dishes a success! Go check her work out! She is a country girl, happily surrounded by an excitable Lab, her dear husband, two boys and the Cotswolds.
>>Like this recipe? Check out our guide to Christmas on your range cooker for more of the same!