A TRULY SEASONAL food, stuffing gets limited exposure throughout the rest of the year.

Which is a shame really, because beyond its obvious use, it really is quite versatile.

Here are a few things to do if you’ve still got any leftover.

You can wrap it in things

One of the easiest things you can do is wrap it up. Probably the most popular way to go is with bacon, as this BBC recipe shows. 

Shutterstock / Niki Crucillo Shutterstock / Niki Crucillo / Niki Crucillo

What you need 

• A knob of butter
• 170g of leftover stuffing
• Around 24 strips of streaky bacon

What to do 

1. Grease 12 holes on a muffin baking tin using the butter.
2. Taking the leftover stuffing, lay two bacon rashers in a crisscross formation in each hole and spoon in the stuffing.
3. Then fold the bacon across on top of the stuffing and pin into place with cocktail sticks.
4. Bake at 200C for 30 minutes until ready.

Bubble and squeak 

The Love Food Hate Waste anti-waste charity say that this “a great leftover recipe that can be made with any vegetable leftovers from the Sunday lunch”.

Shutterstock / Fanfo Shutterstock / Fanfo / Fanfo

What you need 

• 1 onion 
• 4 rashers of streaky bacon
• 450g of leftover mashed potato
• 300g of leftover stuffing and vegetables
• Black pepper
• Salt
• 25g hard cheese
• 25g butter
• Plain flour

What to do 

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion until soft. Then add the bacon and cook until it turns a golden colour. 
2. Take the pan off the heat and put the onion and bacon into a large bowl.
3. Add the mashed potato and cooked vegetables. Season and add the cheese and divide into separate portions.
4. Dust each of these portions in flour and place on a greased baking tray, cooking for 25 minutes at 200C.

Eat on its own 

Stuffing can work just as well when cooked in balls as when stuffed in a turkey.

One of the more interesting varieties on the traditional recipe is the addition of apricots and hazelnuts. 

Shutterstock / Monkey Business Images Shutterstock / Monkey Business Images / Monkey Business Images

What you need 

• 2 large onions 
• 50g butter
• 50g hazelnuts
• 140g dried apricots
• 175g white bread crumbs
• 20g parsley
• 1 zest of lemon
• 1 egg
• olive oil

What to do 

1. Fry the onions in butter and stir in the nuts. 
2. Once these have been browned, remove from the heat and add apricots, bread crumbs, parsley and lemon zest.
3. Mix in the egg and then shape the mixture into balls.
4. Bake these for 30 minutes until golden brown.  

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