VEGGIE STUFFING
CARAMELISED SQUASH, RED ONIONS, SAGE, CRANBERRIES & PISTACHIOS
I love baking this beautiful veggie stuffing in a pudding bowl – it looks amazing and will get everyone really excited when you bring it to the table. It’s open to the introduction of different nuts and dried fruits, so feel free to mix it up.
SERVES 8 2 HOURS PLUS COOLING
1 small butternut squash (1kg) 2 red onions olive oil 1 pinch of ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 whole nutmeg, for grating 1 bunch of fresh sage (30g) 50g dried cranberries 50g shelled pistachios 500g stale bread 300ml semi-skimmed milk
♥ Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ gas 4. Wash the squash, then carefully quarter it lengthways and remove the seeds, placing the squash in a roasting tray, skin-side down. Peel, quarter and scatter over the onions, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil, add the cinnamon, ground coriander and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, finely grate over half the nutmeg, then toss together. Roast for 40 minutes, then remove from the oven. Pick and roughly chop the sage leaves with the cranberries and pistachios, toss with a light drizzle of oil, then scatter over the squash and onions. Roast for another 5 minutes, then remove and leave to cool. ♥ Tear the bread into a bowl, pour over the milk and leave to soak for a few minutes. Squeeze out any excess milk, then pinch and tear the bread into the tray of cooled veg. Using your hands, squash and squidge everything together with another pinch of sea salt and black pepper until well mixed. ♥ Line a 1.5-litre pudding bowl with a scrunched-up sheet of wet, oiled greaseproof paper (or you can use a baking dish to give you a greater surface area for a crispy top, if you prefer). Pack in the stuffing and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of oil, then cover with greaseproof paper, tying it in place with string. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, or until golden and gnarly. Use the greaseproof paper to help you lift it out of the bowl, then confidently flip it on to a plate and serve.
GET AHEAD Make this in advance up to the stage where it’s ready to bake. You can use 250g of this stuffing in your turkey, should you so wish.
NUTRITION PER SERVING 295 kcal; 14.5g fat (4.7g saturated); 14.8g protein; 27.8g carbs; 5.5g sugars; 1.6g salt; 1.8g fibre. ➤