Nigella Lawson’s Panettone and Italian Sausage Stuffing
Nigella's utterly delicious stuffing recipe combines Italian sausage and chunks of panettone to create an irresistible addition to your Christmas feast.
From the book
Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities
Fuss-free festive entertaining ideas
No-nonsense recipes for all the classics
Nigella's favourite festive treats
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Introduction
I go for hot Italian sausages here, since it’s the contrast between the sweet, fruited bread and the fieriness of the sausage that I love; but it would work with the milder variety, too. You can’t, however, substitute normal breakfast sausages: the rusk in them would add too much breadiness; that element is elegantly provided already. If you don’t like the dried fruit in panettone, then go for a tall, round loaf of pandoro instead. In either case, be sure to brush off all the bits of visible sugar from the top. I just slice off the sugar-covered bits. For stock, I simply use good shop-bought concentrate whisked into cold water. If you’re starting off with hot stock, make it up first and leave it to cool a little before mixing in with the eggs.
Ingredients
| 2 | onions, peeled |
| 3 sticks | celery |
| 4 x 15ml tbsp | olive oil |
| 1kg | Italian sausages |
| 4 | eggs |
| 500ml | chicken stock |
| 500g | panettone, cut into 2–3cm cubes |
| salt to taste | |
| Large handful of | chopped parsley, plus more to serve |
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Lay out the panettone cubes on a large baking sheet, and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes, till they are crisp and golden at the edges. Allow to cool. Obviously, this step can be done well in advance, just be sure to keep the toasted cubes in an airtight container.
Chop the onions and celery finely, but don’t go so far that you end up with a mush.
Put 2 tablespoons of the oil into a pan and, when warm, add the celery and onion and cook gently, stirring every now and again, for 10–15 minutes until softened.
Add the remaining oil to the pan, then squeeze the sausages out of their casings into the pan and squish and turn with a wooden spoon to break the pieces up as much as possible and mix with the celery and onion. Cook the sausagemeat for about 10 minutes, or until the pinkness has left it, stirring regularly with your wooden spoon. You can do everything up till this stage in advance if you like.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 (if it isn’t on already) and grease an ovenproof dish (approx. 33cm x 19cm), pretty enough to serve from, put in the toasted panettone cubes and add the sausage, celery and onion: I use my hands to blend everything together well.
In the bowl that had the sausages, celery and onion (to save on washing up) whisk the eggs with the stock (adding salt if it isn’t already salty, so taste the stock first) and pour this over the stuffing, leaving it to soak in for 5 minutes or so before baking, uncovered, in the oven for 45 minutes. It will be dark golden and crisp on top, eggily soft – but utterly firm – underneath.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and use a large spoon to serve.
MAKE AHEAD TIP: Make the sausagemeat and celery mixture. Cool, cover and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. Toast the panettone cubes and store in an airtight bag or container for up to 1 week. Finish with the eggs and stock, as directed overleaf when ready to use.
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