Chestnut & cranberry roll

Contains pork – recipe is for non-Muslims only
Forget fiddly stuffing balls, this clever roll tastes delicious, plus its practical shape makes it ultra-simple to slice

Prep:30 mins
Cook:1 hrs

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 291
fat 18g
saturates 6g
carbs 20g
sugars 5g
fibre 2g
protein 14g
salt 1.69g

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 Bramley apple, approx 140/5oz each, peeled
3 x 450g/1lb packs good-quality pork sausage
2 x 200g/7oz packs vacuum-packed chestnuts, roughly chopped
small bunch parsley, leaves roughly chopped
small bunch sage, leaves roughly chopped
small bunch thyme, leaves stripped
1 egg
100g white breadcrumb
175g fresh or frozen cranberry
24 rashers streaky bacon
butter, for greasing

Tip

Get ahead
The rolls can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and kept, raw, in the fridge, or frozen for up to 1 month. Roast up to 1 day ahead if you wish, then reheat, wrapped in foil, for 30 mins while the turkey rests and your vegetables finish cooking.

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then gently fry the onion for 5 mins until softened. Finely chop the apples either by hand or in a food processor.
Squeeze the sausagemeat from the sausages into a large bowl, then add all the other ingredients, except the cranberries and streaky bacon. Season generously, then get your hands in and mix well. Weigh out 450g of the stuffing and mix a handful of the cranberries into it. Use to stuff the neck of the turkey (see 'Goes well with').
To assemble, butter and season a large sheet of foil. Stretch out the bacon rashers slightly with the back of a kitchen knife, then overlap 12 rashers on the foil. Spoon half of the stuffing mix evenly over the bacon, leaving a border of about 3cm. Scatter with half the cranberries, then pat them in. Tuck the long edges of the bacon over the stuffing; then, using the foil to help, roll the stuffing up into a log shape. Repeat to make a second roll.
Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Put the foil-wrapped rolls onto a roasting tin and roast for 45 mins. Unwrap, draining off any juice, then finish roasting for 15 mins until the bacon is crisp.