This classic pork, chestnut and apricot stuffing is packed with festive flavours and couldn't be simpler to make.
It's great for stuffing traditional turkey and will ensure the bird remains moist and succulent while roasting. We recommend only stuffing the neck end and under the skin, rather than the cavity. Why? Simply put, stuffing the turkey cavity can prevent hot air from circulating and may result in undercooked meat.
Alternatively, you can use this recipe to make individual stuffing balls. Follow step 3 and wrap in bacon – the perfect side dish for Christmas Day or any Sunday lunch spread.
Head here for more of Good Housekeeping's delicious Christmas recipes.
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Yields:
20
Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Cal/Serv:
86
Ingredients
50g
(2oz) butter
1
large onion, finely chopped
2
celery sticks, finely chopped
450g
(1lb) good quality sausage meat
75g
(3oz) ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Large handful flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped
1
medium egg
150g
(5oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
200g
pack whole cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
10
streaky bacon rashers
Directions
Step 1
Melt the butter in a medium pan and gently cook the onion and celery for 10min or until soft but not coloured. Empty into a large bowl and set aside to cool.
Step 2
Add the sausage meat, dried apricots, orange zest, parsley, egg, breadcrumbs, chestnuts and some seasoning and mix to combine (using your hands is easiest). Set aside half the stuffing for the turkey.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Divide the remaining stuffing mixture into 20 equal pieces and roll each into a ball. Stretch each bacon rasher along a board with the back of a cook's knife, then cut in half widthways and wrap each half around a stuffing ball. Put seam-side down on a non-stick baking tray (if you like, secure the bacon in place with a cocktail stick).
Step 4
Cook in the oven for 30-35min until cooked through.
Get ahead
Prepare to end of step 2 up to a day ahead. Divide the stuffing equally between two sealable containers and chill (alternatively, stuff the turkey with the requisite amount of stuffing). Complete step 3 with half the stuffing mixture up to 5hr ahead. Cover and chill. Complete recipe to serve.
Per Serving:
Calories: 86
Total carbs: 7 g
Sugars: 2 g
Total fat: 5 g
Saturated fat: 2 g
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An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
