2012 Cooking Club Week 40: Stuffing Balls

Faith · 11-12-2014 5:13pm

My plan is to make this this Christmas, if I can find normal sausages and not mad flavoured gourmet ones. It's a fabulous recipe!

BaZmO* · 11-12-2014 5:15pm

Faith wrote: »

My plan is to make this this Christmas, if I can find normal sausages and not mad flavoured gourmet ones. It's a fabulous recipe!

I'd imagine you could just make them with pork mince and some spices similar to what would go into a sausage, white pepper, mace(?)

Dizzyblonde · 11-12-2014 6:39pm

irish_goat wrote: »

*bump*

For the time that is it.

Anyone tried this technique using a vegetarian recipe? Have to make the mrs some for Christmas dinner as she can't eat meat so I was thinking of just taking a handful of the mix before I add the sausage and baking them.

I sometimes add sautéed mushrooms to my bread stuffing, maybe that would work in these instead of the meat?

Dubl07 · 11-12-2014 7:00pm

irish_goat wrote: »

*bump*

For the time that is it.

Anyone tried this technique using a vegetarian recipe? Have to make the mrs some for Christmas dinner as she can't eat meat so I was thinking of just taking a handful of the mix before I add the sausage and baking them.

BaZmO* wrote: »

What would you replace the sausage with? It's kind of essential for binding the other ingredients together.

I make stuffing balls too, some of which are along the same lines as BaZmo*'s but omit egg when using sausage as it's a binder as well.

Stuffing is brilliant because it's infinitely variable. If you wanted to make a veggie version and Mrs Goat eats eggs, you'd be fine as long you squish the balls a bit and don't make them larger than a table-tennis ball. A couple of spoons of gram flour (chickpea flour) would help stick things together, or a bit of chopped frozen/vac-pac chestnuts and/or chopped dried apricots (ready-to-eat or soaked).

Or you could just bake some lovely home-made stuffing in a bowl without needing eggs or sausage.

Mr. CooL ICE · 12-12-2014 4:06pm

You could maybe replace the sausage meat with some pseudo-hummus? Prepare the ingredients, minus the sausage -> process some chickpeas -> add rest of ingredients to processor and make into balls? I'd imagine it would need plenty of extra seasoning

gerrybbadd · 12-12-2014 4:32pm

These look absolutely amazing.

I'm thinking of doing up a load this weekend. I have plenty of sausage meat in the freezer. The one change I'm gonna try is chopping up a red pepper into little cubes, and adding to the mix

BaZmO* · 12-12-2014 6:16pm

gerrybbadd wrote: »

These look absolutely amazing.

I'm thinking of doing up a load this weekend. I have plenty of sausage meat in the freezer. The one change I'm gonna try is chopping up a red pepper into little cubes, and adding to the mix

Actually, that'll look really Christmassy

Neyite · 15-12-2014 4:41pm

These are on my list for Christmas day dinner

mirrorwall14 · 17-12-2014 10:31pm

Crap I just made these and forgot the egg?! Do I need to re roll them?

BaZmO* · 17-12-2014 11:46pm

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Crap I just made these and forgot the egg?! Do I need to re roll them?

No, they should be fine as long as they were wet enough to stay in one piece when rolling them into balls. The egg is there just to give them a better bind.

mirrorwall14 · 17-12-2014 11:47pm

Oh great thanks. Carpel tunnel is kicking my butt so really didn't want to have to redo them!

blueshed · 24-12-2014 11:48am

Just made 22 of these with the 1lb of Aldi sausage meat, added sage and wholegrain mustard. only have 20 left for tomorrows dinner and can see that number getting smaller.

Lisha · 24-12-2014 3:20pm

Mine are made and waiting for tomorrow
I added finely chopped green pepper (really pale nearly yellow in parts.)
Yummmy
Love these thanks Bazmo

Loire · 24-12-2014 4:19pm

Bazmo, you'll have more hits with this thread than Shane Macgowan

:pac:

BaZmO* · 24-12-2014 4:30pm

Loire wrote: »

Bazmo, you'll have more hits with this thread than Shane Macgowan :pac:

Haha. At least it's a nice tradition now!

Lola92 · 24-12-2014 4:48pm

Have these made and waiting in the fridge to cook tomorrow. I added sage and then rolled the finished stuffing balls in the leftover breadcrumbs I had. Cooked a couple up for myself and OH to taste. Wowzers. These are going to make amazing leftover sandwiches, and I can only imagine them with gravy

The Black Oil · 24-12-2014 5:14pm

16 ready to be eaten.

BaZmO* · 24-12-2014 5:19pm

The Black Oil wrote: »

16 ready to be eaten.

Did you just make enough for yourself?

The Black Oil · 24-12-2014 6:21pm

No doubt you're speaking from experience...

gerrybbadd · 24-12-2014 9:53pm

Have a serious dose of these made for tomorrow (26 in total). Stuck to the recipe more or less. Just added a little sage and diced red pepper. Very tasty, can't wait to have with the turkey and some gravy tomorrow!

beertons · 24-12-2014 10:17pm

Feck. I used sage with them for the trial run, ended up with thyme tonight, and only realised it now.

BaZmO* · 24-12-2014 11:27pm

beertons wrote: »

Feck. I used sage with them for the trial run, ended up with thyme tonight, and only realised it now.

That's not a bad thing though, they'll be just as nice.

kevmcdonnell · 25-12-2014 7:50pm

Thanks for the recipe. Went down an absolute treat. Prepped yesterday and cooked today. Delicious

gerrybbadd · 25-12-2014 8:41pm

Jesus it's hard to stop eating these. Had a pile with the Xmas dinner, but have around 16, no 15, now it's 14 left.... I. Can't. Stop. Eating. Them.

beertons · 25-12-2014 9:36pm

Lola92 wrote: »

rolled the finished stuffing balls in the leftover breadcrumbs

Followed you on rolling them in the left over breadcrumbs. Awh man, just beautiful.

DG Leixlip · 25-12-2014 11:04pm

Prepared these lastnight & cooked them today. They were lovely!! Thanks for the recipe!!! :-)

Faith · 26-12-2014 9:06pm

I made these for Christmas dinner so I'm reporting back.

Firstly, I made them a good week in advance. I froze them and defrosted them on Christmas morning, and they were perfect.

Secondly, I made them with pork mince, as suggested, because sausages in Canada are rubbish (and often made from beef!). I definitely missed some of the flavour of the sausage meat, but if I hadn't had them before, I wouldn't have known the difference. All of my guests were very impressed and kept going back for more. Thanks again, BaZmO!

BaZmO* · 26-12-2014 9:20pm

Faith wrote: »

I made these for Christmas dinner so I'm reporting back.

Firstly, I made them a good week in advance. I froze them and defrosted them on Christmas morning, and they were perfect.

Secondly, I made them with pork mince, as suggested, because sausages in Canada are rubbish (and often made from beef!). I definitely missed some of the flavour of the sausage meat, but if I hadn't had them before, I wouldn't have known the difference. All of my guests were very impressed and kept going back for more. Thanks again, BaZmO!

Cool. I like that they can be frozen. In all the years that I've made them I've never frozen them.

Glad you enjoyed them Faith.

Faith · 26-12-2014 9:38pm

Just to be clear, I froze them uncooked

BaZmO* · 26-12-2014 9:47pm

Faith wrote: »

Just to be clear, I froze them uncooked

Yeah I gathered that.

Neyite · 27-12-2014 12:47am

These won me high praise indeed yesterday bazmo. Many thanks for a keeper recipe.

gerrybbadd · 13-01-2015 12:58pm

I froze a batch of these bad boys (cooked) after the Xmas dinner.

I wrapped them in a double layer of tin foil, and then put them in a freezer bag. Last week, took them out of the freezer bag, and put them into the oven for along with a cooked chicken.

Believe it or not, they are nearly nicer the second time around!

BaZmO* · 13-01-2015 1:33pm

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I froze a batch of these bad boys (cooked) after the Xmas dinner.

I wrapped them in a double layer of tin foil, and then put them in a freezer bag. Last week, took them out of the freezer bag, and put them into the oven for along with a cooked chicken.

Believe it or not, they are nearly nicer the second time around!

That's good to know. I have to have them if I make a Sunday Roast but sometimes the effort can be too much if I don't make them the night before.
I must make up a big batch of them and then have them ready to go when needed.

Cooking them the second time wouldn't really matter I suppose as the drying out would just help with the gravy soakage.

gerrybbadd · 13-01-2015 1:48pm

BaZmO* wrote: »

That's good to know. I have to have them if I make a Sunday Roast but sometimes the effort can be too much if I don't make them the night before.
I must make up a big batch of them and then have them ready to go when needed.

Cooking them the second time wouldn't really matter I suppose as the drying out would just help with the gravy soakage.

Oh, I meant to let you know as well, I had a batch made with added diced red bell peppers - Wow, they were beautiful!

Padraig Mor · 13-01-2015 4:02pm

Forgot to chip in here when I made these over Christmas. Excellent - a big hit with everyone!

homemadecider · 23-12-2015 6:13pm

I've just made a batch of these, thanks for the recipe. I did one batch as per your instructions and then another batch with a grated apple, orange zest and fresh nutmeg. I've put the whole lot into the freezer on a tray for enthusiastic consumption later in the week.

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The Black Oil · 24-12-2015 12:48pm

Did you use onions in your second batch?

blueshed · 24-12-2015 1:18pm

going to make a few batch's of these, one batch as OP recipe, one batch with spices added and another batch with grated cheese.

Lisha · 24-12-2015 3:02pm

Bazmo, happy Christmas to you and yours.
Your stuffing ball recipie is now a tradition in this house.

I've made a slight modification and I'll accept any consequences as being my fault if they are not right.

I was feeling very queasy earlier so I couldn't handle the egg. I grated in Apple instead and added chopped peppers.
I cannot wait for these tomorrow:)

Happy Christmas one and all !

BaZmO* · 24-12-2015 3:35pm

Thanks lisha. Happy Christmas to you and yours too. Hope you all enjoy your dinner.

I love that the Stuffing Balls have become your tradition too.

gerrybbadd · 24-12-2015 6:19pm

I only had a batch last week - now my favourite stuffing recipe. Thanks Bazmo

homemadecider · 24-12-2015 10:33pm

The Black Oil wrote: »

Did you use onions in your second batch?

I did. We ate some with our dinner tonight and they were gorgeous. I will definitely be adding apple and orange zest again, the combination was great. I added lots of extra thyme and black pepper to the other ones, also fecken gorgeous! Thanks for a great and easy recipe.

catho_monster · 27-12-2015 5:39pm

The stuffing balls are a Christmas tradition in our house now too! We make them with pork and apple sausages (from Tesco or M&S) and roast them in goose fat with a little bit of the turkey juices.

BaZmO* · 27-12-2015 5:50pm

catho_monster wrote: »

The stuffing balls are a Christmas tradition in our house now too! We make them with pork and apple sausages (from Tesco or M&S) and roast them in goose fat with a little bit of the turkey juices.

Pork and Apple. That sounds lovely.

The Black Oil · 16-01-2016 7:10pm

homemadecider wrote: »

I've just made a batch of these, thanks for the recipe. I did one batch as per your instructions and then another batch with a grated apple, orange zest and fresh nutmeg. I've put the whole lot into the freezer on a tray for enthusiastic consumption later in the week.

Just tried this version - very good.

magicmushroom · 26-01-2016 3:13pm

make my stuffing balls just with sausage meat, finely diced onion, lots of sage, breadcrumbs and seasoning.

They're yum (and I always freeze them in batches uncooked).

However, these sound DIVINE - I'm going to try them this weekend - thanks OP!

Gloomtastic! · 28-02-2016 4:41pm

Just have to give a heads up to Bazmo and these infamous Stuffing Balls.

They're now a regular feature of every Sunday roast here - regardless of the meat we serve them with.

I've simplified their preparation by:

1. Buying Jumbo sausages.
2. With a sharp knife, a single incision along each sausage makes it easy to extract the meat contained within.
3. Everything is then thrown into a food processor and blitzed.

Thanks Bazmo!

BaZmO* · 28-02-2016 5:22pm

Cheers Gloomtastic!

I've also started to slit the sausages with a knife instead of trying to squeeze them out. Much easier way to do it and it was my OH that suggested it. You can also buy packs of sausage meat too if you want to go super quick and easy.

thomasm · 18-12-2016 9:53am

Going to make these this year. Just a quick question, the sausages in the pictures are in big chunks. Is everything wrapped around the sausages with these as the middle of the balls or do the sausages get broken up further

BaZmO* · 18-12-2016 10:20am

thomasm wrote: »

Going to make these this year. Just a quick question, the sausages in the pictures are in big chunks. Is everything wrapped around the sausages with these as the middle of the balls or do the sausages get broken up further

Everything gets squished together. Use your hands to make sure all the ingredients are mixed up fully, that's why kids love this recipe. A good tip is to leave the sausages out of the fridge while you're getting all the ingredients prepped. This stops your hands turning to ice while mixing together.

I'm actually making a big batch of these today to have ready to go next weekend. I'll just freeze them in batches and take them out the day before and form them into balls. Saves a lot of time.

2012 Cooking Club Week 40: Stuffing Balls

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