Pomegranate Cornbread Stuffing

1 cup arils from 1 large pomegranate

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped dried apricots

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped celery

½ cup sliced green onion

1 box (12 ounces) cornbread stuffing mix

½ cup chopped parsley

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2-3 cups chicken broth

Score pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate underwater to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup of arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven and heat until hot. Saute apricots, raisins, celery and onion for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl; add apricot mixture, the arils, parsley, melted butter, egg and 2 cups of the broth; toss well. Add additional chicken broth if a moister stuffing is desired.

Use part of the mixture to stuff a 12- to 20-pound turkey; bake remaining (or all) stuffing in a shallow buttered baking dish.

To bake stuffing separately from bird, cover dish with foil; bake in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes more or until stuffing is golden brown.

Serves 12.

Cook’s note: Recipe can be halved, using 1 egg yolk instead of 1 whole egg. Use to stuff Cornish hens or roasting chickens.

Variation: For ham or sausage stuffing, stir 2 cups diced, cooked ham or 1 pound drained, cooked and crumbled sausage into bread stuffing mix with the apricot mixture.

@Recipe nutrition:Nutrition values per serving: 293 calories, 12 g fat (6 g saturated), 43 g carbohydrates, 5 g protein, 39 mg cholesterol, 715 mg sodium.

POM Wonderful