We were contacted by one of our regular readers who said he was in a bit of way. He had been asked to do the starter for Christmas dinner and didn’t have a clue what to do and was feeling the pressure. We called in our culinary expert to give the poor lad some ideas and this is what he went with.
This recipe will make two signature pigs in blankets. Multiply the ingredients up depending on your requirement.
Ingredients
sausage meat, (or 8 small chipolata sausages, dismantled)
breadcrumbs
the rind of an orange, grated
packet of streaky bacon
a medium shallot
clove of garlic
handful hazelnuts, smashed
handful of cranberries
handful of fresh sage
handful of fresh rosemary
pepper
rectangle of grease proof paper
a square of cling film
Method
Smash up your hazelnuts (not too much) and grate the rind of your orange into a mixing bowl. Finely chop your shallot, garlic clove, sage and rosemary and add a handful of cranberries. Add two handfuls of breadcrumbs and a few pinches of pepper set all that to one side. Cut a rectangle of grease proof paper and flatten out some of the sausage meat to fit. Sprinkle in some of the mixture and press into the sausage meat.
Using the grease proof paper, roll the sausage meat up and pinch the ends to seal it all in. Place your cling film on your surface and lay out some streaky bacon strips. (enough strips to match the width of your sausage meat roll). Pop the sausage meat roll at the top of your streaky bacon strips and using the cling film, roll it up.
Place the now pigs in blankets in the oven at 200 oC (fan: 180 oC) for about 35 minutes or until cooked through and crispy.
This recipe was a big hit on Christmas day afternoon and quite literally saved this guys bacon. Delicious!
