*** This recipe is part of a Christmas Special where I show you how to make 3 mains and 4 side dishes that take 1.5 hrs to prepare and can be largely made ahead. So this Christmas, you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family! 🙂 *** Stuffing is not huge in Australia. We know what it is, but it isn’t at the forefront of our minds. However, in the US, stuffing is an art. It’s almost a food group of its own. When you start searching, it’s amazing how many variations there are. And you know what? Most stuffings aren’t actually even in the bird. They’re baked in a separate dish and served on the side. Which makes perfect sense because you get more crunchy brown bits! “I made these stuffing cups for a Christmas Party recently. Of all the dishes I slaved over, this was the outright winner for the blokes, ladies AND the kids!” When I saw this Pork Sausage Dressing (PS “Dressing” is technically what stuffing that is not stuffed inside poultry is called!) from Kathleen at Hapa Nom Nom, I pounced on it instantly. Well, to be honest, that is my reaction for most recipes she posts. She continually manages to surprise with unique but totally doable recipes, and always flavours that I know I will love. Every time I see a new recipe from her in my inbox, I instantly think “I want to make that!”.
I can’t talk this stuffing up enough. It is absolutely incredible. It’s salty with a hint of sweetness and tartness from the apple (I think that’s the secret ingredient!), it’s not soggy, just moist enough on the inside and it crisps up beautifully on the outside. I made some minor variations to Kathleen’s recipe to make it more suitable for pancetta cups – namely cutting the bread slightly smaller and increasing the amount of bread a touch because I didn’t want to risk the bottom of the cups becoming soggy and also to balance out the salt in the pancetta (i.e.. I was concerned the mixture might be slightly too salty so by increasing the bread it decreased the overall saltiness a touch). These are fabulous made ahead! Kathleen is right – the flavour melds together even more if you make them the day before. The pancetta cups crisp up wonderfully when you reheat them, as does the top. Honestly, my idea of a perfect Christmas spread would just be a table covered with these. They were that good. 🙂 STUFF yourself with these stuffing cups! – Nagi *
Easy, Stress Free Seven Course Christmas Menu (1.5 hr prep)
You can read about this menu here, including a step by step of the order in which I prepared, baked, reheated and plated up each dish. I made all these dishes (with the exception of the cabbage salad) for a Christmas Party with my friends and these are photos of the actual dishes that I took to the party. I’m sharing this in the hope that it might inspire your Christmas menu!
Easy Maple Sticky Glazed Ham (15 min prep, 1 – 1 1/2 hrs inactive baking, can be made ahead) Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast (5 min prep, then set and forget, reheats well but best slow cooked overnight on the night before serving) Festive Duck with Apple Cider Drizzle (5 min prep, 1 1/2 hr inactive baking, reheats very well) This Pork Apple Stuffing in Pancetta Cups (20 min prep and worth every second. Reheats extremely well) Julia Child’s Potato Dauphinoise Gratin (15 min prep, 45 min baking, reheats very well) Red, Green and White Christmas Salad (10 minutes prep) Warm Red Cabbage and Spinach with Garlic Herb Butter (10 minutes prep)
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