A good stuffing should complement the flavours of the meat its served with and this pumpkin and herb stuffing recipe works especially well with poultry. That’s right, this is a serious stuffing contender for your Christmas turkey! Seasonal, earthy pumpkin teamed with fragrant herbs brings fresh flavours to a moist roast bird. This stuffing recipe can be used to stuff a bird, or can be simply cooked on the side, which is especially handy if you’re catering for vegetarians. Meat-eaters can switch vegetable stock for chicken stock, and can even add sautéed sausage meat from a couple of Cumberland sausages
Ingredients
- 1 small pumpkin, skin and seeds removed, diced
- 25g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
- 1tbsp chopped sage
- 1tbsp chopped thyme
- 75g stale bread, crusts removed
- 1 egg, beaten
- 250ml vegetable stock
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.
Spread out the diced pumpkin onto a lightly greased baking tray. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning once. Remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the red onion, celery and herbs and allow to cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft, stirring frequently.
Crumble the stale bread into a large mixing bowl, add the onion mixture, egg, roasted pumpkin, stock and seasoning. Stir thoroughly to combine.
Transfer the stuffing to an oven-proof dish and cook in the oven for 40 minutes.
Slice into wedges and serve.
Top tip for making Vegetarian pumpkin and herb stuffing
This make-ahead recipe can be stored in the freezer then defrosted and heated through in the oven.
