• Finely dice the onion then place into a large frying pan with the veg oil and butter & fry over a medium heat until soft, stirring regularly. This will take around 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, grate the garlic & finely chop the thyme leaves.
• Once the onion is cooked, stir in the garlic & thyme, cook for 30 seconds then deglaze the pan with the brandy.
• When the brandy has almost reduced completely, take the onion off the heat & transfer to a bowl. Leave to cool completely.
• Next, place the pine nuts into a small frying pan & toast until golden brown. Transfer to another bowl & leave to cool.
• Preheat an oven to 160°c/140°c fan (320°f/284°f).
• Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking parchment & set aside.
• Remove the skins from the sausages then place the sausage meat into a large mixing bowl.
• Cut the bacon into a small dice (around 6-8mm wide) then add to the sausages & mix to combine.
• Roughly chop up the apricots & finely chop the sage leaves. Add both to the sausage meat, along with the orange zest & a good pinch of salt & pepper.
• Next, give the toasted pine nuts a quick blitz with a food processor to chop up slightly then add to the stuffing.
• Tear the brioche into small pieces then blitz into fine breadcrumbs with the food processor then add to the stuffing (don't worry about cleaning it between using it for the pine nuts & brioche!).
• Lightly beat the egg then add to the stuffing then give everything a good mix.
• Take a small amount of the stuffing & cook it in a frying pan until it's cooked through. Give it a taste, to check the seasoning then add more salt & pepper as necessary.
• Transfer the stuffing mix to the lined loaf tin, pressing it down so that it's level then place a piece of baking parchment on top of the stuffing & cover the tin with foil.
• Place the loaf tin into a deep roasting tray then fill it up with warm water so that it comes to halfway up the sides of the loaf tin.
• Cook in the preheated oven until the stuffing has an internal temperature of 75°c/167°f. This will take between 1½ - 2 hours but check the temperature after 1 hour.
• Once the stuffing is cooked, carefully take the loaf tin out of the water & place onto a baking tray. Remove the foil, place another loaf tin on top of the stuffing, then weigh it down with something fairly heavy, like a bag of flour.
• Leave the stuffing to cool then remove the weight (but still leave the tin on top) & chill in the fridge overnight.
• The next day, turn the stuffing out onto a chopping board, remove the baking parchment then cut into 1 cm thick slices.

To Reheat

• In a pan.

  Place a large frying pan over a medium heat & add in a splash of veg oil. Once hot, cook the stuffing for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown & crisp. Season with salt & pepper then serve.

  You'll need to cook the stuffing in batches.
• In the oven.

  Preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (356°f/320°f).

  Place the stuffing onto a lined baking tray, drizzle over a small amount of veg oil & season with salt & pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes.