Faggots with Onion Gravy

This entry was always going to be interesting, because it's about pig hearts. Then we found a recipe for said hearts and it got even better. Faggots, as it turns out, are a traditional English meal. They are meatballs made of pig offal -- in this case, heart, liver, & belly. You mince it all together, throw in some breadcrumbs & eggs, and make meatballs. The pictures we found looked more like little hamburger patties, so that's how I did mine. We actually used chicken livers -- I don't know what minced pig liver looks like, but mincing chicken livers liquefies them. Is your mouth watering yet?

I actually rather enjoyed our faggots, and I ate them for lunch several days in a row. I still don't really know what pig heart tastes like. The end product had a distinct liver taste -- I don't know whether the liver over-powered the heart, or whether hearts & livers taste the same. Either way, if you like liver, I think you'll enjoy this. (I know you're running out to get some pig heart right now.) If you don't like liver, I wouldn't recommend it.


Ooh ooh. I almost forgot. The broccoli looking stuff under the cheese sauce is the Romanesco. It looked a lot weirder than it was. It tasted like mild broccoli, and I have always loved broccoli covered in cheese. Anything covered in cheese, really....



The faggot recipe is below. I just realized we didn't follow one of the last steps about putting them back in the oven. Oh well.

Ingredients

25g/1oz unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
175g/6oz minced pigs' liver
2 lamb or pigs' heart, trimmed and cut into chunks
450g/1lb belly of pork, trimmed and rind removed
½ tsp mace [we used nutmeg]
4tbsp freshly chopped chives
1 tsp freshly chopped sage
1 egg, beaten
salt and freshly ground pepper
115g/4oz fresh white bread crumbs
25g/1oz beef dripping or 3 tbsp olive oil

For the gravy
4 red onions, peeled and each onion cut into 8 wedges
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
900ml/1½pt fresh beef stock
290ml/½ pint red wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the onions. Cook until soft and transparent. Cool slightly
2. Place the belly pork onto a chopping board and cut into portions.
3. Place the minced pigs' liver into a large glass bowl and place under the blade of a mincer. Using a fine blade of a mincer, mince the pork belly and lambs heart directly into the bowl with the pig s liver. If you do not have a mincer at home ask your butcher to mince all your meat for you.
4. Add the cooled chopped onions, mace, chives, sage, beaten egg and salt and pepper. Stir in the breadcrumbs.
5. Using your hands shape the mixture into 12 patties. Place on a plate and chill for about 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. 7. For the gravy: place the onion wedges into a large roasting pan or ovenproof dish. Add the thyme and drizzle over the olive oil. Place in the oven and roast uncovered for 40 minutes until the onions are caramelised.
8. Meanwhile heat the dripping or olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the faggots until golden brown on both sides.
9. Place the stock and wine in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by a third.
10. Remove the roasted onions from the oven and lay the faggots on top. Pour over the gravy liqueur. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook the faggots for 40 minutes.
11. Place two to three faggots onto a plate. Top with a spoonful of the onions and pour over the gravy. Serve the faggots with mashed potatoes and green vegetables.