Pork, apple and cider is the stuffing that behaves like a Sunday roast got promoted. The apple sharpens the richness, the cider does the same again, and the result sits particularly well beside a turkey that would otherwise be the driest thing on the table.
Ingredients (serves 8)
- 400g sausagemeat
- 1 large Bramley apple, peeled and diced small
- 1 onion, finely chopped and softened in butter
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 100ml dry cider, reduced by half in the onion pan
- A generous teaspoon of chopped sage
- 1 egg, beaten, plus salt and black pepper
Method
- Soften the onion in butter, add the cider and let it bubble down by half. Cool slightly.
- Mix with everything else — hands again — and check the seasoning with a tasting-fry.
- Bake in a buttered dish at 190°C / 170°C fan for 30–35 minutes until browned and cooked through. The apple should have collapsed into the mix rather than surviving as chunks.
The rest of the cider is the cook’s. This is traditional.
Why you need the bad jumper for this one
Because this is the long-lunch stuffing, and a long lunch has a trajectory. You sit down at two feeling festive and rise at five feeling like furniture — which is the single strongest argument for the Christmas cardigan, the only garment in the category with an adjustable waistline setting. Buttoned for the carving photograph, open by the cheese course. One cardigan and one forgiving knit below, and the full Women’s Christmas Jumpers collection for the rest of the table.
