It’s hard enough scouring the web these days for vegetarian stuffing recipes, but vegetarian and Paleo?! It’s just not gonna happen people. That’s why I’ve been making my own every year. But, I have been baking a full loaf of Paleo bread before even making my stuffing which has made my Christmas dinner even more stressful to make. So, this year I thought it would be best to come up with a recipe where I don’t have to pre-bake a loaf and the end result is still fluffy and moist. I also knew that I wanted these to be super herby and fruity – I feel like stuffing has to have a huge amount of flavour to really stand out in a Christmas dinner, maybe that’s just me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these Apricot, Cranberry, and Pistachio Vegetarian Stuffing Balls as much as I did… I ate like 6 straight after they came out of the oven – yes really!
These Apricot, Cranberry, and Pistachio Vegetarian Stuffing Balls make for a delightful Christmas side dish that’s packed full of delicious and nutritious ingredients.
Don’t be put off by the huge list of ingredients, well maybe not huge but probably bigger than you’re used to when it comes to making stuffing. The ingredients are all really simple to find and the majority of them have been supplied to me by the amazing Indigo Herbs who I love working with. Yes they do pay me so this is classed as a sponsored post but I only work with companies that use high quality and delicious ingredients (which they do!). But yeah, there are a lot of different flours in there which help to give a more regular texture – if you bake with only one kind of flour you’ll often find that the result is too dry, crumbly, or just a soggy, chewy mess. I think we can all agree that we don’t want that happening, at least certainly not at Christmas!
The dried fruits add a gorgeous succulent burst of flavour and the toasted pistachios a beautiful crunch, whilst the black pepper shines through cutting any of the sweetness from the fruits. Indigo Herbs’ organic apricots are unsulphured but their cranberries are sweetened with a little sugar so if that’s not for you just leave out the cranberries and use twice the amount of apricots. Personally, I love the cranberries, I think that they give a much-needed pop of sourness to the stuffing.
Is it wrong that I ate all of these?
The mixed dried and fresh herbs will compliment any roast dinner perfectly and the leftovers will make the most perfect breakfast hash/fry up. Even though it tastes amazing it’s actually super nourishing too. You get plenty of healthy fatty acids from the almonds, chia, and flax as well as lots of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Even when consumed on its own it’s quite an impressive little dish. If you’re vegan you can try and give these a whirl minus the eggs – just add a little extra liquid at a time and it should all combine together. Please note that I haven’t had time to create a vegan version of this yet so it could quite well fail but I’m guessing because of the chia, flax, and xanthan gum it’s probably going to hold together pretty well.
Make sure you follow the instructions carefully to ensure that you make them right the first time and please don’t get too carried away on creating the world’s neatest stuffing balls ever. Roast dinners should look rustic and not neat. If you can’t be bothered rolling the dough into balls, or if you hate the feeling of sticky things in your hands, just line a bread tin and bake on the same heat but for slightly longer. If the stuffing starts to brown too quickly just cover with some tin foil, shiny side up – this will help to prevent it from burning.
Enough of my waffle though – check out the recipe for yourselves below!
Looking for more delicious treats made with interesting ingredients? Why not try my Salted Caramel Magnums with Lion’s Mane or Red Rice Pumpkin Risotto with Medicinal Mushrooms? Oh, and if you want to keep up to date with my deliciousness then sign up for my newsletter and I’ll love you forever – who am I kidding? I already do!
- 75ml freshly boiled water
- 50ml cold water
- 2 tbsp Indigo Herbs Organic Coconut Sugar
- 50ml milk
- 1 tsp dried active yeast
- 50g pistachios
- 1 large red onion (minced)
- 50g organic grass-fed butter/ghee/coconut oil
- 70g Indigo Herbs Organic Whole Dried Apricots (chopped)
- 70g Indigo Herbs Organic Cranberries
- 25g fresh herbs of choice (chopped)
- Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
- 90g/1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 45g/1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp Ingido Herbs Organic Almond Flour
- 15g/2 tbsp Indigo Herbs Organic Coconut Flour
- 15g/2 tbsp Indigo Herbs Organic Flaxseed Flour
- 15g/2 tbsp Indigo Herbs Organic Chia Seeds (milled)
- 2 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp organic xanthan gum
- 1 tsp Indigo Herbs Organic Black Pepper Powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder/granules
- 2 eggs (whisked)
- Pre-heat your oven to 170°C/325°F/gas 3. If using a fan assisted oven set it to 150°C.
- In a measuring jug mix together your freshly boiled water, cold water, and coconut sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Next, add your milk and dried active yeast. Stir then leave to one side for 10 minutes.
- Toast your pistachios in a dry skillet over a medium heat. Stir frequently and remove from the heat once lightly browned and fragrant. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then roughly chop by hand or in a food processor.
- Melt your butter in the skillet and add your minced red onion. Fry over a low to medium heat until softened then add the contents of the pan to a small mixing bowl. Add your chopped pistachios, chopped apricots, cranberries, chopped fresh herbs, and lemon zest with your cooked onion and stir together until fully combined. Set to one side until needed later. To speed things up you can do this whilst waiting for your pistachios to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl add your arrowroot, almond, and coconut flours, flax seed meal, milled chia seeds, mixed herbs, baking powder, xanthan gum, black pepper powder, sea salt, and garlic powder then whisk together until evenly mixed.
- Stir together your yeast mix then pour into your dry ingredients and mix together until fully combined. Add your eggs and stir again. Once combined stir in your onion and fruit mix then set to one side.
- Line a baking tray with a piece of greaseproof baking paper or a Silpat and place a small bowl of cold water nearby. Wet your hands, especially palms, generously and take around 2 tbsp of mixture. Gently roll into a ball then place onto the lined baking tray. Repeat until all of the
mixture has been used up. Be sure to leave an inch of space between the balls as they will fluff up a bit. - Place into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out hot to the touch and clean. Serve immediately or leave to cool then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Disclaimer: Please note that this is a sponsored post. This means that I was sent free products and compensated in return for an amazingly delicious recipe for you all. Any payment I receive I use to purchase more ingredients and equipment to keep this blog up and running, and most importantly to keep creating quality content for you all. I am not an affiliate of Indigo Herbs and any purchases you make via them I will not be compensated for. I am not influenced by the company in any way and all opinions, ramblings, and thoughts are my own and 100% honest. If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact me.
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