These savoury vegetarian stuffing balls are too good just to serve as an accompaniment, so why not serve them as part of your New Year’s Eve spread instead? Accompany with cranberry sauce or a dipping sauce.
Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time 30 minutes/Makes: 24
Ingredients:
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2 Onions, finely chopped
300g frozen Spinach, defrosted
150g fresh White Breadcrumbs
75g chopped Hazelnuts
finely-grated zest of 1 Lemon
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp dried Sage, crumbled
Pinch of freshly-grated Nutmeg
25g hard cheese of your choice, finely grated
2 Eggs, beaten
Method:
Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted, then add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook over medium low heat, stirring regularly, for 8-10 mins until softened and translucent. Set aside to cool slightly.
Drain the spinach really well, pat dry in kitchen paper to remove as much moisture as possible then finely chop and add to a large bowl. Add the onion, breadcrumbs, hazelnuts, lemon zest, garlic, sage, nutmeg, cheese and eggs, then season generously with salt and pepper and mix well.
If cooking straight away, preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 4). Line one large or two smaller flat baking trays with baking paper (if freezing in advance make sure the trays can fit in your freezer). Divide the mixture into 24 balls and space them out well between the baking trays. If cooking straight away, bake for 25-30 mins, turning halfway through cooking, until golden brown and crispy.
If you want to freeze them, wrap the trays with the stuffing balls really well in cling film, making sure you don’t squash them as you do so. Freeze for up to 3 months. Once frozen solid you can transfer them to freezer bags, so they take up less space. To cook from frozen, follow the above method but cook for 40-45 mins, turning halfway through cooking.
