Welsh Porc Faggots With Sage & Onion Gravy
Classic British Faggot recipes date back over many years, with different UK regions putting their own unique twist on this comforting British meatball dish, traditionally made using minced off-cuts and offal (usually liver and/or heart, although kidney is also sometimes used). This Welsh porc faggot recipe sees minced belly porc and fresh pig’s liver combined with stuffing mix, herbs and spices to form big, hearty meatballs, wrapped in streaky bacon rashers and served with rich sage and onion gravy. Not only do these porc faggots taste absolutely wonderful, but they’re incredibly quick and easy to prepare, and they make the most of pig’s offal - a lesser used, yet delicious part of the animal. Serve your porc faggots with creamy mashed potato, mushy, marrowfat or garden peas and a rich onion gravy for a traditional touch.
Servings 8 large faggots
Calories 200kcal
Cost $3
Equipment
- Hand mincer optional
- Oven dish or roasting tray
Ingredients
For the faggots
- 170 g sage and onion stuffing mix
- 250 g Welsh pig's liver
- 550 g minced Welsh porc belly or shoulder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp freshly ground mace or ¼ tsp nutmeg see notes
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 16 unsmoked streaky bacon rashers
- ½ tsp sunflower oil for oiling
For the sage and onion gravy
- ½ tbsp sunflower oil or 25g unsalted butter
- 2 sprigs fresh sage leaves removed and set aside
- 1 large yellow onion peeled and finely sliced
- 1 tsp soft brown sugar
- 450 ml beef stock
- ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1½ tbsp plain flour
Instructions
For the faggots
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas mark 4. Prepare the sage and onion stuffing mix according to the packet instructions, and set aside.
- Finely chop the pig's liver and combine with the minced porc.
- Add the stuffing, salt and pepper, ground mace or nutmeg, and thyme, using your hands to ensure the ingredients are well-mixed.
- Form the mixture into eight large, round meatballs or faggots, around the size of a tennis ball.
- Wrap each faggot in two unsmoked, streaky bacon rashers. Lightly oil an oven dish or roasting tray, and place the meatballs inside.
For the sage and onion gravy
- Heat the oil or butter in a non-stick frying pan and fry the sage leaves for 3-4 minutes, until crispy, before carefully removing from the pan with a slotted spoon and setting aside.
- Fry the sliced onions over a low to medium heat for around 10 minutes, until golden and softened.
- Add the sugar and continue cooking for a further 4-5 minutes, until caramelised.
- Add the beef stock to the pan, followed by the balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Allow to simmer for a further 2-3 minutes. Then, mix the flour with a tablespoon of cold water to form a smooth paste. Add to the pan, stirring through and allowing to bubble away until slightly thickened.
- Remove the pan from the heat and pour the onion gravy into the dish, covering the faggots. Cook in the oven for an hour and a half, or until cooked through.
- Once cooked, serve the faggots with creamy mashed potato and mushy peas or garden peas, in a pool of rich sage and onion gravy, garnished with crispy sage leaves.
Notes
- When it comes to chopping up the pig’s liver, the easiest way to do this is to pulse it in a food processor for a few seconds. Alternatively, if you have a hand mincer, you could mince it instead. However, if you have neither, finely chopping by hand will do the job (albeit a little messy).
- You can either use sage and onion stuffing mix to make your pork faggots or, alternatively, use a mixture of fresh breadcrumbs, finely chopped onion and chopped fresh sage.
- Traditionally, pork faggots are wrapped in caul fat (the white membrane that surrounds the organs of some animals). You may need to enquire at your local butcher about ordering this in advance. I’ve used unsmoked streaky bacon rashers instead, but you can leave the bacon (and caul fat) off altogether if you prefer.
- You can buy mace ready-ground or, alternatively, use a pestle and mortar to grind up the web-like burnt orange mace coating that surrounds a whole nutmeg seed.
- If you can’t source mace, nutmeg is an excellent substitution, although the flavour is somewhat more pronounced than that of mace, so use a little less.
- Once cooled, you can freeze any leftover cooked faggots in foil freezer trays or foil-covered airtight containers, for up to three months. To heat them up, cook from frozen at 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
Nutrition
Calories: 200kcal