Quick, easy and very moreish, these Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls are the perfect accompaniment to roast chicken, roast duck and roast turkey. And the cute little ball shape guarantees everyone gets plenty of crispy bits!
Why stuffing balls are so awesome!
I am a HUGE fan of stuffing balls. Why? Because they are easy to make, quick to cook (important when oven space is at a premium!), they look good on the table and are easy to serve… and the cute ball shape guarantees everyone gets plenty of crispy bits!
So far on Easy Peasy foodie I have shared recipes for:
- Easy Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls
- Pork, Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls
- Chestnut and Cranberry Stuffing Balls
And now these 3 are joined by my newest stuffing recipe: Easy Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls!
Perfecting the recipe…
I’ve had the idea of creating a stuffing balls recipe involving apricots and pistachios for a long time, but it has taken me a while to perfect the recipe. I initially tried this recipe with just breadcrumbs… but that tasted a little bland and boring, so I tried it instead with just sausage meat… and that still wasn’t quite right… so I tried a combination of sausage meat and breadcrumbs and BINGO!
It also took me a little while to get the flavourings right… my initial version contained mint, but that just tasted all wrong in this context. Removing the mint and increasing the parsley was the winning formula… and that is how I arrived at my final recipe.
My family were obviously very sad at having to eat so many roast dinners in order to help me arrive at the perfect recipe ?
Easy Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls
So, after much careful recipe tasting… the final version is a delicious combination of white breadcrumbs, pork sausage meat, semi-dried apricots, pistachios, parsley and just a touch of salt and pepper.
And this recipe could not be easier to make… simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl, shape into balls, then pop them in the oven for 20 minutes!
I feel I have to warn you, though, these stuffing balls are utterly delicious and a little too moreish – you will end up having way more than you were originally planning to!
Perfect with a roast dinner…
This delicious combination of sausage, apricots and pistachios is a real crowd pleaser and works well with almost all roast meats, but especially roast chicken, roast duck and roast turkey.
Perfect for Christmas…
Because it works so well with roast turkey and is so quick and easy to make, this Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls recipe is a great option for Christmas dinner!
Can you make stuffing balls ahead of time?
Yes you can! Stuffing balls are a great option if you want to get ahead. Simply cook the stuffing balls as per the recipe below, cool and refrigerate. These Easy Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To reheat, simply place on a non-stick baking tray and cook at 200C (180C fan / gas mark 6 / 400F) for 10-15 minutes, or until piping hot all the way through.
These cute little stuffing balls are also delicious eaten cold!
Can you freeze stuffing balls?
Absolutely! Stuffing balls freeze very well. Simply cook the stuffing balls as per the recipe below, cool and put them straight into the freezer in an airtight container. These Easy Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Defrost overnight in the fridge, then reheat as above or enjoy cold.
How to make breadcrumbs for stuffing
One thing that often trips people up when making homemade stuffing is the need for fresh breadcrumbs… So I wanted to share a little trick of mine that makes perfect breadcrumbs every time… and you don’t have to wait for your bread to go stale… you can even do this with fresh bread!
First slice the bread – thick or thin it does not matter. Next take each slice and scrunch it up in your hand so you have a ball shape. Now grate that ball of bread on the large side of a cheese grater… and voila! Perfect breadcrumbs.
You might find you have a little bit left in your hand at the end which you cannot grate without risking grating your fingers, but that’s OK! You can just tear that last little bit up small… it’s always nice to have a bit of a texture in your breadcrumbs – especially in this recipe.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing Balls
Ingredients
- Olive oil for greasing (or similar – rapeseed oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil will all be fine)
- 100 g fresh white breadcrumbs (see Note 1)
- 350 g pork sausage meat (see Note 2)
- 20 semi-dried apricots chopped finely (see Note 3)
- 100 g pistachio kernels chopped finely
- 10 g fresh parsley chopped finely
- Salt and pepper to taste (go easy as the sausage meat will already be seasoned – you may find you don’t need any)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C / 180C fan / gas mark 6 / 400F and lightly grease a large baking tray with a little oil.
- Place all the ingredients for the stuffing balls in a large bowl and mix together with your hands. (You can do this with a wooden spoon but it’s much easier and gives a better result if you do this with your hands!)
- Using your hands, take small amounts of the mixture and roll into balls – roughly the size of a golf ball. This amount of mixture should yield 30 stuffing balls.
- Place the balls on the greased baking tray and put the tray into your preheated oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the balls are nicely browned on the outside and cooked all the way through.
- Serve with roast meats and all your favourite roast dinner sides!
Video
Notes
- To make fresh white breadcrumbs, simply scrunch slices of white bread into balls and grate the balls of bread on the large side of a cheese grater.
- If you can’t find pork sausage meat, simply squeeze the meat out of 350g pork sausages instead.
- These stuffing balls are made with semi-dried apricots… the type of dried apricots which are soft and pleasant to eat straight out of the packet, not the fully dried ones which are rock hard! If you can’t find semi dried apricots, get the fully dried kind and rehydrate for 5-10 minutes in boiling water before using.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Linkies
I am linking this up to Cook Blog Share.
Donna says
I never make stuffing. I love it, but no one else in the house does. Maybe they’d like if I tried something like this?!
Eb Gargano says
Oooh yes – definitely worth a try! Let me know how you get on 😀
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
I have to admit I always play it safe with stuffing, but I love this flavour idea, I must try it!
Eb Gargano says
It’s definitely worth being brave and trying this one – you won’t be disappointed! 😀
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
I love stuffing and we usually have it every time we have a roast. I love the sound of the apricots and pistachios with the pork!
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Cat – it works so well 😀
Rebecca - Glutarama says
This is a simple yet effective recipe and I can tweak it to be gluten free too. Love the idea of adding apricot and pistachio it makes the dinner so much more special when you add little perfection’s like these.
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Rebecca – I totally agree! Eb 🙂