Description
These juicy stuffing balls are the perfect side. They’re loaded with dried cranberries and pecans for a fun, festive twist, super easy to prep ahead of time (up to 3 days!) then just throw them in the oven when you’re ready to serve.
Remember, if you’re looking for US measurements, use the ‘Units’ section below and click on ‘US’.
Ingredients
- 800g/1.7lb sausages (ideally good quality and free-range)
- 2 slices of bread
- ½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon za’atar
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. Heat your oven to 180C/360F fan and line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Roughly chop the pecans, cranberries and flat-leaf parsley. You can either finely chop up or tear the bread slices, or tear them roughly them throw them into the bowl of a food processor and blitz a couple of times to break them up into chunky breadcrumbs.
- Make the stuffing mix. Get a large mixing bowl ready, then cut through the sausage skin and squeeze the meat out into the bowl. Add the chopped pecans, cranberries, flat-leaf parsley, breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of za’atar, 1 teaspoon of salt and the egg. Mix everything together really well with a large wooden spoon (or get your hands in there!) so that everything is combined and it’s looking more like a paste.
- Form and cook the stuffing balls. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into your hands, then roll it into a ball. Place on the prepared oven tray, then repeat with the rest of the mixture. You should get about 40 stuffing balls. Transfer to the oven and cook for 20 – 25 minutes, until the balls are looking golden brown. Remove from the oven, and serve.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: You can roll the balls up to 3 days ahead of time and then just bake them when you’re ready. Store the uncooked balls in airtight containers in the fridge.
SUBSTITUTIONS: Swap the cranberries for chopped dried apricots, or switch out the pecans for almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts or hazelnuts.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: These are lovely served with a drizzle of honey, and served with cranberry sauce or your favourite chutney – this fig and tamarind chutney works really well. Sweet chilli jam is also great with them.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: sides
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 balls
- Calories: 260
- Sugar: 0.5g
- Sodium: 656mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 6.1g
- Carbohydrates: 2g
- Fiber: 0.8g
- Protein: 13.1g
- Cholesterol: 64mg
Keywords: stuffing balls, roast stuffing balls, christmas stuffing balls