Now a glamorous side dish, stuffing is an essential part of any Christmas spread
What used to be a stuffing for the inside of your bird has become an extravagant oven-tray-roast-loaf-style stuffing that is spongy, chewy, rich and a little naughty. The traditional combination of pork, sage and onion stuffing now takes many forms, with nuts, dried fruit, bacon, pancetta, citrus and lots of herbs thrown into the mix. Ditch the pork and use sourdough bread as the base (instead of breadcrumbs) for a modern crowd-pleaser.
How to make Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
A very simple process, mainly involving chopping, the best filling recipes get the balance of bread, meat, herbs, nuts and citrus just right. It’s up to you whether you use a vegetarian or chicken stock to soak the bread into a delicious sponge, just make sure you add Parmesan cheese for the perfect umami finish. Here are the steps to creating an impressive filling for your festive meal:
Do your mise en place
In a large mixing bowl, add all the chopped ingredients as listed on the recipe card below. Mix well.
Hot stock
Pour hot vegetable or chicken stock over the filling mixture and mix again, making sure the sourdough is soaked with liquid. Take care not to crush or squash the ingredients – you don’t want a mush.
Let it soak
Leave the stuffing to soak for 10 minutes. This allows the textures and flavours to meld and makes the mixture soft and spongy, perfect for roasting.
Perfect roasted stuffing
Press the stuffing into a well greased roasting tin and roast in the oven until crisp and golden brown. When ready to serve, melt some butter with the sage leaves and cook until crisp. Pour the browned butter over the stuffing and garnish with sage.
How to serve Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
Nothing enhances a delicious stuffing like gravy. The bread is the perfect base for soaking up delicious juices and sauces, so enjoy it as a side dish or add it to your plate of succulent meat and vegetables for the ultimate roast dinner experience.
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Recipe: Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
Ingredients
- 100g pancetta finely chopped
- 50g dried apricots finely chopped
- 1 lemon zest finely grated, to get 1½ tsp, and juiced, to get 1 tbsp
- 8 sage leaves + extra
- 2 tsp dried marjoram or fresh
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 50g parmesan finely grated
- 350g Sourdough bread torn into chunks
- 150g pecans
- 250ml vegetable or chicken stock
- Sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Fry the pancetta in a little oil until crispy. Add a splash of red wine vinegar to deglaze the pan.
- Add onion and garlic to the pancetta and cook until softened. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients, including the hot stock. Set aside to soak for 10 minutes.
- Heat oven to 180C. Grease a 20 x 30cm baking dish with butter. Add the stuffing mixture to the baking dish and lightly press down.
- Bake for 1 hour until nice and golden on top.
- For the garnish, fry sage leaves in butter until crispy. Brush the stuffing with the browned butter and top with crispy sage leaves
