Wild Rice Stuffing

Although this is a very good stuffing recipe, we cooked this more as a veggie accompaniment to the Christmas dinner.

Any leftovers make a wonderful base for a quick & interesting vegetable pilau

I’ve used a firm variety of pumpkin here (‘Crown Prince’) which won’t break down when cooked, but that could be replaced with something like Butternut Squash

Ingredients

• 75g Wild Rice
• 1 tin (280g) peeled Chestnuts
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, crushed
• 100g Chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• A little Olive Oil
• Fresh Sage Leaves
• 150g Basmati Rice
• 500ml Vegetable Stock
• 200g Firm Pumpkin, cubed & roasted in a little olive oil

Method

• Put the wild rice in a pan an boil hard with salted water for about 10-15 minutes to start the cooking process, then drain
• Meanwhile sweat off the onion and garlic in a little olive oil for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms, sage and chestnuts.  Cook until Onion and mushrooms have softened
• Add the wild rice and basmati and stir well, then the stock and pumpkin.  Bring to the boil
• Cover with a lid and reduce heat to low.  Cook for 20 minutes or so until the basmati rice is tender, stirring a couple of times to prevent sticking
• Transfer to a pyrex bowl and bake in the oven to reheat and ‘crisp up’ the surface before serving