Marbles Stale Bread Stuffing Balls
with Apple, Onion, and Sage
And on the eighth day, God made stuffing balls out of stale bread. These delightful, glutenous balls of joy offer a perfect fluff-to-comfort ratio and can be generously dipped into sauce, jam, or soup. This easy make-ahead side dish for your holiday gathering is also an innovative way to use leftovers (which I am a big fan of!). It's a way to use stale bread and old wrinkly apples. Who says stale bread is bad? Never throw away stale bread. The result is a delicious festive dish your guests will not stop raving about. In fact, that is exactly what happened at Marbles HQ when I was testing the recipe. We felt a palpable decrease in productivity on that day, and yay, nobody hath complaineth. Nobody knew that what they were gorging on was, in fact, stale bread. Stale. Bread. Bread that is stale. Stale bread.
Ingredients

400 g stale bread
2 tbsp olive oil 
1 large brown onion (around 200g)
3 cloves of garlic 
1 celery stalk (around 40g)
2 Juicy Marbles filets
1 apple (around 160g)
10 sage leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt 
3 tbsp mustard 
500 ml vegetable stock
Olive oil for brushing

45-55 MIN / SERVES 3-4 (26 BALLS)
preparation

1. If using fresh bread, toast it in the oven to dry it out. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Chop/tear bread into small pieces, around 2x2 cm big. Spread the bread on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. 
2. While the bread is toasting, finely dice an onion, celery, and garlic cloves, and grate an apple. 
3. Finely chop Juicy Marbles filets. I like to cut them in half lengthwise and thinly slice them to get small pieces resembling minced meat.  
4. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add onion and fry for 3 minutes, before adding garlic. After 1-2 minutes add celery, sage, and Marbles. Fry for 7-8 minutes before adding grated apple. Cook for another 3 minutes, then season with 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, ¼ tsp nutmeg, and 2 tbsp mustard. 
5. Add to a bowl with toasted bread.
6. Pour warm vegetable stock over the mixture, cover, and let it sit for 10-12 minutes. Uncover, mix well, and let it cool down. The mixture is a lot easier to shape when cold.
7. Shape into balls (I like to weigh 50 g balls to ensure even size and baking), place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and brush with olive oil.
8. Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. If necessary, rotate the baking tray 180 degrees to ensure even browning.
9. Serve with cranberry jam, gravy, or soup of your choice.