Roast turkey just isn’t roast turkey without stuffing. Traditionally the cavity of turkey was stuffed and sometimes under the skin around the thighs. The modern approach, to ensure a more even cooking, is not to stuff the cavity – instead, the stuffing goes around the neck area (under the skin) or is cooked separately.

You can make two main types of stuffing – with or without meat. Meat stuffing is traditionally made of the giblets, herbs and stale bread – these days we use sausage meat, smoked bacon, herbs, dried fruits and breadcrumbs. The vegetarian versions can be interesting mixtures of dried fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs & bread crumbs. If you cook the stuffing separately, you can make interesting shapes: balls, mini sausages, fritters or bake them in festive silicon muffin cases (such as star or Christmas tree). Here are a couple of recipes:

• Cranberry and pork stuffing balls
• Cranberry and chestnut stuffing balls

And now here are some other easy yet yummy recipes:

NON-MEAT STUFFINGS

Grape stuffing

Ingredients: 50g butter, 1 onion chopped, 2 cloves of garlic chopped, 150g bread crumbs, 250g seedless white grapes cut in half, 4 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1 small egg, beaten. Preparation:melt the butter to fry the onion and garlic. Transfer to a bowl and mix with the other ingredients.

Apricot & leek Stuffing

Ingredients:1 onion chopped, 2 sprigs of rosemary chopped, 1 clove garlic crushed, 150g bread crumbs, 200g leek chopped, 150g chopped dried apricots, 2 beaten eggs. Preparation:mix the ingredients

Sage & pinenuts stuffing

Ingredients: 200g of bread crumbs, 100g butter, 1 onion chopped, 1 clove garlic minced, 1 sprig of rosemary or thyme leaves, 6 sage leaves, zest of 1 lemon, 50g pine nuts, 1 tsp salt, ground pepper, 3 Tbsp parsley Preparation:soften the onion and garlic in butter, then add the herbs and fry for 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and pine nuts, salt & pepper and cook for 7 minutes until brown.

MEAT STUFFINGS

Chestnut & bacon Stuffing

Ingredients:40g butter, 1 onion chopped, 1 clove of garlic, ½ tsp lemon thyme, 6 slices of smoked bacon, cut into cubes, 1 small bunch of parsley, 500g pork sausage meat, 1 egg, zest of 2 lemons, 200g cooked or roasted chestnut, 4 Tbsp olive oil Preparation:soften the onion and garlic butter.  Mix the parsley and thyme together in a blender, add the bacon and continue to blend for a few seconds. Add the eggs, minced meat, lemon zest, fried onions, season with salt and pepper. Combine everything together. Transfer into a bowl and add the chopped chestnuts. Formed about 40 small balls and fry  gently in olive for a few minutes then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Apple & pork stuffing

Ingredients: 50g butter, 1 onion chopped, 2 stalks celery sliced, ​​1 clove garlic minced, 1 green apple peeled and roughly grated,4 tsp chopped parsley, ½ tsp thyme chopped, 450g sausage meat, zest of 2 lemon, salt & pepper. Preparation: soften the onion, garlic and celery slices in the butter. Transfer this into a bowl, mix with other ingredient. Butter a deep pan (e.g. bread tin), fill with the mixture and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes (less time is needed, if the pan is not deep).

Bacon stuffing

Ingredients:2 onions, 150g butter, salt, pepper, 100g smoked bacon (or pancetta) cut into cubes, 1 bunch parsley chopped, 1 bunch of sage chopped, 250g breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 200g dried apricots (chopped), zest of 1 orange. Preparation:soften the onion in the butter, add the bacon, and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients. Rest in the refrigerator for a day. On the day of cookingstuff the turkey with this mixture.

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