Now a glamorous side dish, stuffing is an essential part of any Christmas spread
What used to be a filling for inside your bird has morphed into an extravagant oven-tray-roast-loaf-style stuffing that is spongy, chewy, rich, and a little bit naughty. The traditional combination of pork, sage, and onion stuffing now takes on many forms including nuts, dried fruit, bacon, pancetta, citrus, and plenty of herbs in the mix. Omitting pork and using sourdough bread as a base (instead of bread crumbs) its a modern-day crowd-pleaser.
How to make Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
A very simple process, mainly involving chopping, the best stuffing recipes keep the balance of bread, meat, herbs, nuts, and citrus exactly on point. 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. Below are the steps to creating an impressive stuffing for your festive meal:
Do your mise en place
Grab a large mixing bowl and add all the chopped ingredients as listed in the recipe card below. Toss everything together nicely.
Hot stock
Pour hot vegetable or chicken stock over the stuffing mixture and combine again, making sure the sourdough is soaked with liquid. Be careful not to crush or squeeze the ingredients – you don’t want mush.
Let it soak
Leave the stuffing mixture to soak for 10 minutes. This will allow the textures and flavours to meld together and make the mixture soft and spongy, perfect for roasting.
Perfect roasted stuffing
Press the stuffing into a well-greased roasting tin and transfer to the oven until crispy and golden brown. When ready to serve, melt some butter with sage leaves and cook until crispy. Baste the stuffing with browned butter and top with sage.
How to serve Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
Nothing enhances a delicious stuffing more than gravy. The bread makes 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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Sourdough Pecan and Apricot Stuffing
Made with crispy pancetta, chewy sourdough, pecan nuts for texture, dried apricots for a touch of sweetness, then with parmesan and citrus for the finishing touch
- Prep Time: 20 Minutes
- Cook Time: 1 Hour
- Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 – 6 1x
- Category: Christmas
- Method: Oven Roasting
- Cuisine: Modern Fusion
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
- 2 cups 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
Keywords: sunday roast recipes, festive recipes, christmas recipes,
