Christmas Pork and Chestnut Stuffing

Ingredients

• 2 large onions
• 50g stale bread
• 200g vac-packed chestnuts
• 1kg higher-welfare pork shoulder, trimmed, diced
• 1 bunch of fresh sage (30g)
• 3 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
• 1 fresh whole nutmeg, for grating
• 1 lemon
• 1 orange or clementine

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.
2. Peel, quarter and blitz the onions in a food processor until finely chopped, then tip into a large bowl.
3. Tear the stale bread into small chunks and whiz into breadcrumbs. Add these to the bowl, then crush and crumble in the chestnuts.
4. Place the diced pork into the food processor, pick in the sage leaves, roughly chop and add the bacon, followed by 1 level teaspoon of white pepper and a good pinch of sea salt.
5. Finely grate in a quarter of the nutmeg, the zest of half a lemon and just 2 or 3 gratings of orange or clementine zest. Pulse until you’ve got some chunks and some mush – it won’t even take a minute, then tip into the mixing bowl.
6. Because the pork is raw, you’re committed to seasoning it well, so add another pinch of salt and pepper, then scrunch it all up until well combined.
7. Take just under half of the stuffing out of the bowl to use for your turkey, then transfer the rest to a lovely earthenware dish.
8. Use your hands to break it up and push it about, then flatten it all down. Pop it in the oven to cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until bubbling and crispy. If you’re doing it as part of your Christmas lunch, you want to put it on at the same time as your spuds.
9. Once done, pour away any excess fat before serving, if you want to. It will be soft, juicy and succulent on the inside, then gnarly, crispy and chewy on the outside. Enjoy!