Lemon, leek and sage stuffing

Serves 4

January: Lemon, Leek and Sage Stuffing

This is a great stuffing recipe to have with a roast and excellent as an ingredient for bubble and squeak the next day. To make it a veggie dish simply omit the sausagemeat.

Ingredients

375g good quality sausagemeat 2 large leeks, chopped 30g butter 10 fresh sage leaves (or another herb if you prefer) finely grated zest of 1 lemon juice of half a lemon 100g soft breadcrumbs 2 tbsp of chopped parsley 1 egg, lightly beaten (or two if you are omitting the sausagement) salt & pepper

Step One

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Sweat the leeks in the butter in a covered pan until tender. Pour boiling water over the sage leaves, then drain and chop. Mix the leeks with the sage with all the remaining stuffing ingredients including the sausagement if you are using it, adding enough egg to bind the mixture. Spoon the mixture into a buttered gratin dish (or use to stuff a joint of meat, chicken or turkey).

Step Two

Cook in the oven according to joint instructions if you are using it as a traditional stuffing. Stuffing in the gratin dish can be cooked in the oven for 20-30 minutes (cover with foil if required to stop the stuffing from drying out towards the end of cooking).