Festive Pork & Honey Stuffing and Honey Roasted Parsnips

As a special Christmas treat we are going to give you two recipes this week! Both are perfect accompaniments to any festive meal: delicious honey roasted parsnips and a pork stuffing with honey. I'll be cooking both of these on Boxing day to have with cold meat and mash potatoes, but they would be great as part of a Christmas day meal too!

To make Pork and Honey Stuffing you will need:

• 1 packet of pork sausages (The best quality you can find and afford)
• 2 smoked bacon rashers
• 1 large onion
• 100g of panko breadcrumbs
• 1 medium sized egg
• A small bunch of fresh sage (around 20g)
• 50g of dried cranberries
• 2 tbsp of Just Bee Honey
• A few knobs of butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• Vegetable oil for frying

• a suitable roasting dish or loaf tin
• a large frying pan
• a large mixing bowl

Step One:

Add a table spoon of vegetable oil to your frying pan. Finely chop the onion and the bacon rashers and fry on a medium-low heat until the onions are soft and the bacon cooked. This should only take 3 or 4 minutes, we don't want to brown the onion or make the bacon crispy.

Step Two:

Pop the oven on next, where we'll be preheating the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C (lower to around 170 for a fan assisted oven).

Remove the pan from the heat and stir the cranberries through the onions and bacon. Then add the panko breadcrumbs and mix it all together. Put aside for now and let the breadcrumbs absorb the excess oils and flavours.

Step Three:

Remove the skins from your sausages, the easiest way is to just cut them down the length with a sharp knife and it should peel away easily. Put the meat from the sausages in the mixing bowl and break them up a bit with a fork. Add the contents from the frying pan, along with a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Finally chop the fresh sage and add to the bowl too.

Step Four:

Give the mixture a good mix with a fork until it looks well combined, if you want to get your hands in at this point then feel free, it can be quicker and easier. Then add the egg and two tablespoons of original Just Bee honey. Continue mixing the now wetter mixture with a fork or your hands if you don't mind getting messy!

Step Five:

Lightly grease the inside of your tin or roasting dish with a little butter, then transfer your stuffing mixture into it. Add a few small blobs of butter to the top  and bake on the middle shelf of your oven for 45 minutes. Turn the tin half way through cooking if your oven has a tendency to bake unevenly.

Once cooked remove from the oven, cover and allow to cool for a while as it will make cutting slices a bit easier. If you want to make the stuffing in advance then you can freeze the whole loaf. When you want to use it, defrost in the fridge overnight wrapped in foil, then just pop the foil wrapped loaf  in the oven while cooking your dinner for 10 to 15 minutes to warm through.

To make Honey Roasted Parsnips you will need:

• 500g of parsnips
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp of Just Bee Honey
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of pepper
• ½ tsp of dried thyme

• A small roasting tin

Step One:

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6 or 200c (lower to 180c in a fan assisted over).

Cut the parsnips into finger sized pieces. Depending on their size you can half or quarter them to get them all roughly the same. If you want to peel them then you can using a potato peeler, but I never bother- especially if they are on the small size.

Step Two:

Add the parsnip fingers to the tin and drizzle over 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Give them a little toss around and pop them on the middle shelf for around 20 minutes.

Step Three:

Remove the parsnips from the oven and season them with a pinch or two of  salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle over ½ a teaspoon of dried thyme and finally drizzle over 2 tablespoons of honey. Give them another gentle toss before returning to the oven for another 10 minutes or until they turn a lovely golden colour. Serve directly to plates and enjoy!

We hope you enjoy these recipes and you all have a wonderful Christmas. We also want to thank you for all the kind comments and messages about the recipes we've shared this year. We are already getting excited about all the new ones we've been developing for next year!