Chestnut stuffing
It’s definitely worth the effort of making your own stuffing for Christmas dinner, and Mary Berry’s vegetarian chestnut version with apricots is a winner. This recipe is easily doubled.
Ingredients
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 4 sticks celery, finely chopped
- 225g/8oz dried apricots, snipped into small pieces
- 300g/10½oz fresh white breadcrumbs
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú butter
- 225g/8oz frozen chestnuts, thawed, roughly chopped
- generous bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat oven 200C/400F/Gas 6. Butter a shallow ovenproof dish.
Add 600ml/1 pint water into a pan with the onion, celery and apricots. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.
Put the breadcrumbs into a large bowl. Melt half the butter in a frying pan and pour half of this onto the breadcrumbs.
Melt the remaining butter in the pan and fry the chestnuts over a medium-high heat until lightly browned. Tip into the bowl with the breadcrumbs.
Add the apricots, onion, parsley and thyme to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn into a buttered, shallow ovenproof dish and bake in a preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes until crisp and hot right through.
Recipe Tips
To freeze: cool and cover the dish with foil, freeze until Christmas Eve.
To thaw: take out the night before using and thaw overnight. Crisp in a hot oven (as above) for about 10-15 minutes.