Vegan Christmas Stuffing Balls

This recipe uses ready-made stuffing mix as a base. I used sage and onion (and, of course, made sure it was vegan) but you can use whichever is your favourite. You can do your own breadcrumbs and flavourings if you want to. I personally think there’s enough to do on Christmas day already, so I try to cut a few corners where I can. There is a lot in this recipe that isn’t gluten-free. You can leave them all out, but they will probably not have that firm sausage-like texture that this recipe gives you. I’ve rolled the mixture into balls and pan-fried them, but you can coat them in a little oil if you like and put them in the oven. I tend to put mine in the oven to keep warm after I’ve fried them anyway, unless I’m jostling for space with everything else that’s got to go in there.
I made a little mobile video of these cooking, so that you can see what’s going on.

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Makes about 22

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 can braised tofu, chopped
75g dried apples (about 6 slices), chopped
60g dried cranberries
1 tsp garlic puree
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 heaped tsp yeast extract
800ml hot, light veg stock (made with 1 stock cube)
340g (2 packs) sage and onion stuffing mix (make sure it’s vegan)
50g vital wheat gluten
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for shallow frying

Prep time: 15-20 minutes. Cooking time: 25 minutes, plus 30 minutes rest time.

Method:
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and braised tofu together for 6-8 minutes. Add the dried apples and cranberries and cook for 4-5 minutes more. Put in the garlic puree and give it another two minutes.
Now add the rest of the ingredients and mix them all together until fully combined. Cover and leave to rest for about 30-40 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed and the mixture is cool enough to easily handle.
Roll into balls roughly the size of golf balls and set aside on a plate, then heat enough oil to shallow fry in your frying pan. When the oil is quite hot, put in about 8 stuffing balls (depending on the size of your pan. You want to give them room to move about) and fry on all sides for 8-10 minutes, until crisp and brown all over. Place in the oven to keep warm while you fry the next batch, or set aside to reheat later.