Tried and tested over many a Christmas day! 🙂

Ingredients:

• Sausage meat (typically I’ve used about one 500g pack for this recipe to serve around 8-10, but it depends on how hungry your guests are!)
• Breadcrumbs (about half a small loaf, crusts removed – have a few spare to make sure mixture is dry and pliable)
• Chestnuts (the peeled, cooked variety are great), chopped
• Cranberries (small handful) whole
• Dried apricots (ditto) chopped
• Toasted almonds (1 spoon)
• Parsley, chopped finely (fresh is better)
• Thyme, taken off the twig (ditto)
• Sage, chopped finely
• 1-2 shallots, chopped finely
• 1 egg, beaten
• Lemon zest (1 lemon is fine)
• Small glug of port
• Black pepper & fresh milled salt

Mix ingredients until thoroughly.  Leave covered for an hour or so.  Stuff bird or cook separately. If you do cook separately, use a buttered oven tin and top with streaky bacon.

PS.  For the 2014 version, I included minced pork as well as sausage meat, plus pistachio nuts for extra colour.  Report to follow!