Sourdough Stuffing with Bacon, Celery and Apple

Nut-free

This is wonderful. Though it's called stuffing, it doesn't see the inside of a chook at all, and instead resembles a rich, savoury bread and butter pudding. It's a brilliant side dish alongside roasted meat.

Sourdough stuffing with bacon Photo: Kelly Gibney

Ingredients

• ½ loaf sourdough bread (about 270g), torn or cut into 4-5cm chunks
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 stem celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 120g streaky free range bacon, cut into 1cm pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 apple, peeled and cut into 1cm pieces
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 free range egg
• Olive oil for sautéing
• Cracked black pepper

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Place the torn sourdough on an oven-proof tray and toast for 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery, garlic and bacon. Cook until the onion is tender and translucent. Add the butter, apple and herbs.

Add some cracked black pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the sourdough and toss well. Add half the stock and stir through so the bread is evenly coated.

Let the stuffing cool for 20 minutes before spooning into a well-greased oven-proof dish. At this stage you could pop the stuffing in the fridge until you are ready to bake it (up to 24 hours beforehand).

Whisk together the remaining stock and the egg. Pour over the stuffing evenly. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove foil halfway through cooking