Festive turkey stuffing

Heat the
olive oil in a frying pan over a medium flame. Add the finely chopped onions
and the garlic, turn down the heat and cook very gently for 7-10 minutes,
tossing now and again, until the onion is soft and translucent. Don’t allow the
onion or garlic to brown.

Place the lemon zest and juice into a large mixing bowl. Grate the apple, skin
and all, on the coarse side of a cheese grater, and tip the gratings directly
into the bowl containing the lemon juice. Toss well so that the apple is coated
with lemon juice. Squeeze the filling out of the pork sausages (discard the
sausage skin) and add it to the mixing bowl, along with the thyme leaves and
the cooked onion and garlic.

Put the green peppercorns in a mortar with the salt and pound them to a rough
paste. (Or, if you don’t have a mortar, squash them on a chopping board using a
rolling pin or a heavy-based pot.) Add the pepper paste to the mixing bowl.
Using your hands, squeeze and squish the contents of the mixing bowl together.
Now tip all the fresh breadcrumbs into the bowl and, using a fork or your
fingertips, lightly mix until combined. Don’t overwork the mixture, or it will
turn into wallpaper paste.

Toss the Brazil nuts in a hot, dry frying pan, over a medium flame, until
lightly toasted. Lightly mix the nuts into the stuffing mixture.

At this point, it’s a good idea to test the stuffing for flavour and seasoning.
Take a small ball of the stuffing, press it into a little patty and fry it in
hot oil until lightly browned. Taste the patty, add more salt if necessary, and
then cover and place in the fridge until you’re ready to stuff your turkey.

Makes enough stuffing for a large turkey.

Reprinted with permission of Scrumptuous South Africa.
To visit Scrumptuous South Africa’s blog, click here.