Pork, Apricot and Pistachio Stuffing
There’s a little corner of Normandy I visited once, tucked between rows of apple trees and hedgerows that looked like they’d been standing there since the beginning of time. The air smelled of fallen fruit and damp earth, and every so often, you’d spot a few pigs meandering through the orchard, snuffling beneath the trees for windfall apples. One day, we bumped into the farmer, and he explained — in that gentle, unhurried way the French have when they know you’re not going anywhere… that they’d been raising pigs like this for generations. The apples weren’t just feed; they were part of the flavour.
“Ça donne une tendresse spéciale” he said. It gives the meat a special tenderness!
That idea — of pork already kissed with the sweetness of fruit — stayed with me for a while after I came home. And when I started playing around with a stuffing recipe, I found myself coming back to those orchards. That misty air. That quiet tradition of balance: sweet and savoury, rich and fresh, rustic and refined. And that is where this recipe comes in.
It starts with good-quality pork mince, then brings in the soft, honeyed notes of dried apricot and the buttery crunch of pistachios. There’s fresh thyme to ground it, breadcrumbs to bind it, and just a touch of garlic to give it depth. But here’s where it becomes something truly special: instead of baking it on the side, I use it to fill a rolled pork loin joint — so when it roasts, the flavours seep into the meat, the fat keeps everything juicy, and each slice becomes a perfect spiral of sweet and savoury. It’s the kind of dish you bring to the table and hear people go quiet for a second, just taking it in.
Anyway, here’s the full stuffing recipe:
Ingredients
500g pork mince
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large Braeburn apple
6 dried apricots, about 50g, chopped
30g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Small bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
Olive oil, to drizzle
Large bunch of large sage leaves
2 fresh merguez or chorizo sausages
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Put the pork mince into a large bowl and season. Grate the apple into the bowl, avoiding the core. Add the apricots, pistachios, lemon zest and chopped parsley, and mix well.
2. Lay a large sheet of foil on a surface and oil with a drizzle of olive oil. Arrange the sage leaves on the foil, overlapping them in two rows to form a large rectangle, the length of the two sausages placed end to end. Sprinkle with a little seasoning.
3. Spread half of the pork stuffing mixture in the middle, along the length of the sage leaves, then run your finger down the centre of the stuffing to create a hollow for the sausages. Lay the sausages in the hollow and cover with the remaining stuffing mixture.
4. Bring up the foil and envelop the stuffing, twisting the ends to seal. Holding both ends, roll the stuffing in the foil to get a tight and even log. (Refrigerate at this stage if making a day ahead.)
5. Put the stuffing parcel into a baking dish and cook for about 40 minutes. To check if it is cooked, insert a skewer into the middle for 10 seconds – it should feel piping hot against your wrist. The log should also feel firm. Leave to rest for about 15 minutes before slicing to serve.
Making it into a stuffed roast
Making this into a centrepiece for lunch on a cooler weekend, ask your butcher for a boneless pork loin, butterflied and ready to roll. Then before cooking the stuffing, spread it evenly over the opened joint. Roll it tightly and tie with kitchen twine, then roast until golden, juicy, and aromatic.
Serve with roasted apples, a cider gravy, or just a quiet nod to the orchard pigs who knew a good apple when they found one. I like to think that if they’d approve.