Chestnut, bacon & cranberry stuffing
Cooking time
Prep: 30 mins - 40 mins Cook: 40 mins Plus 1 hour to soak the cranberriesSkill level
EasyServings
Makes 24 stuffing ballsThis festive stuffing brings together all the trimmings in one gorgeous mass
Nutrition and extra info
Nutrition per stuffing ball
- kcalories
- 123
- protein
- 4g
- carbs
- 12g
- fat
- 7g
- saturates
- 3g
- fibre
- 1g
- sugar
- 0g
- salt
- 0.65g
Ingredients
- 100g dried cranberries
- 50ml ruby port
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 rashers unsmoked back bacon, cut into strips
- 50g butter
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 450g sausagemeat
- 140g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- ½ tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 140g peeled, cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
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Method
- Soak the cranberries in the port for an hour. Fry the onion and bacon gently in the butter, until the onion is tender and the bacon is cooked. Add the garlic and fry for another minute or so.
- Cool slightly, then mix with all the remaining ingredients, including the cranberries and port, adding enough egg to bind – I find it easiest to use my hands. Fry a knob of stuffing in a little butter, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
- To Cook: This stuffing can be baked in a dish, or rolled into balls that will be crisp on the outside and moist inside. To bake, press the stuffing into a greased ovenproof dish in a layer that is around 4cm thick. Bake at 190C/gas 5/fan 170C for about 40 minutes, until browned and, in the case of sausagemeat stuffing, cooked right through. Alternatively, roll into balls that are about 4cm in diameter. Roast the stuffing balls in hot fat (they can be tucked around the turkey or done in a roasting tin of their own) for 30-40 minutes, until crisp and nicely browned on the outside.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2002
Comments, questions and tips
Comments
used apple instead of chestnuts! dried cranberries available in health food shops and aldi. also made a batch with turkey sausage meat...really tasty!! (made 2nd batch cos 1st 1 devoured by hungry sons!..was preparing for freezer for Christmas day!). I cooked them fully and plan to heat through in oven on the day.
I have been trawling stuffing recipes over the last few days and this one seems to have some of the best reviews. I would like to try and make it ahead of time though and the freeze it. If anyone has done this successfully could you please advise at what point in the recipe you froze it?
Thanks - will post a review when I have made it. Will be interesting as I have not yet managed to make a stuffing that my family & visitors really like!
For Christine - I have made it using frozen cranberries before and it works fine. Defrost the cranberries and just add them to the rest of the ingredience, they don't really soak up the port like the dried ones do, but just add the port to the mixture (you might need a bit less), also i squidge the cranberries a bit when I'm mixing it all together. Try it, it's a great recipe!!
For Christine - although I haven't tried it, I imagine frozen cranberries would turn a bit mushy once defrosted and soaked in the port. I just picked up some dried cranberries tonight in Sainsburys in the baking isle. I've been making this stuffing (gluten-free) for about 5 years now. It is so worth trying to find the berries as its excellent!!!