serves
10-12
prep
30 minutes
cook
35 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
10-12
people
preparation
30
minutes
cooking
35
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 10-15 homemade or store-bought waffles, cut into 2.5 cm pieces
- 900 g sweet (breakfast) sausage, meat squeezed from casing
- 75 g unsalted butter, cut into 1 cm pieces
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 5 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 500–625 ml (2-2½ cups) chicken stock
- 500–625 ml (2-2½ cups) apple cider
- 1½ tsp sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- 250 ml (1 cup) maple syrup, plus extra for drizzling
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Spread the waffle pieces over 2 baking trays and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp and toasty. Allow to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a heavy-based frying pan, crumble in the sausage and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for 8–10 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove sausage from the pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towel. Add 30 g butter to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, then add the onions and celery. Cook, stirring, for 5–6 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1 minute or until fragrant. Remove from heat.
Place the toasted waffle, sausage, onion mixture, walnuts, cranberries, thyme, sage, 4 cups chicken stock and salt in a large bowl. Toss together, adding another 250 ml (1 cup) stock to moisten well, if necessary. Pour over the maple syrup and toss to combine. Scatter over the remaining 45 g butter.
Press the stuffing into a greased 23 cm x 33 cm baking pan (if you have extra, divide the stuffing between a 23 cm x 33 cm pan and a 20 cm x 20 cm pan). Drizzle with the extra maple syrup and sprinkle with the extra salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crispy. Cool for 5 minutes, then serve.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
