Christmas is the only time we ever deviate from our traditional Scottish oat stuffing. This sausagemeat one is packed with Christmas flavours and goes with turkey, goose, even roast beef (at a push). If you want to control the cooking time of your meat it’s probably best to cook the stuffing separately, shaped into individual balls.
Serves 8
Ingredients
120g dried cranberries or apricots (or a combination of both)
50ml port
1 small onion, chopped
2 rashers unsmoked streaky bacon, cut into strips
40g butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
350g sausagemeat
60g fresh breadcrumbs
4 tbsp chopped herbs: parsley, thyme and sage
120g chestnuts, roughly chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
Salt & pepper
Method
Soak the dried fruit in port for an hour. Fry onion and bacon in butter until soft. Add garlic, cool and mix with all the rest of the ingredients, adding enough egg to bind (you won’t need the whole egg if it’s a large one). Shape into balls and arrange on a foil-lined baking dish. Cook at 180 fan for 40 minutes until brown and a bit crispy.
Years of Practice 