Gluten-free Christmas stuffing
Look for gluten-free breadcrumbs for this meaty, fruity, nutty gluten-free stuffing for your Christmas turkey.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
- 1 medium leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 250g/9oz pork mince or gluten-free sausages with the skins removed
- 100g/3½oz gluten-free fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
- 75g/2¾oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
- 25g/1oz dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 75g/2¾oz vacuum-packed chestnuts, crumbled into small pieces
- 1 orange, finely grated zest only
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp flaked sea salt
- ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and lightly grease a baking tray.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and gently fry the leek for 4 minutes, stirring regularly until the leek is softened, but not coloured. Remove from the heat and tip into a large mixing bowl. Leave to cool.
Add the pork mince (or skinned sausagemeat), breadcrumbs, apricots, cranberries, chestnuts, orange zest, herbs, salt and lot of ground black pepper to the bowl with the cooled leeks. Mix everything thoroughly together using your hands.
Roll into 12 even-sized small balls and place on the prepared baking tray. Brush liberally with oil and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the stuffing is cooked and piping hot throughout.
Recipe Tips
If making the stuffing balls ahead of time, cover and chill in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. Bake as above, adding an extra 5–10 minutes to the cooking time, or until the balls are cooked throughout.