GLUTEN-FREE ‘STUFFINS’
Made to accompany our Christmas Dinner dish of Rolled Roast Turkey Breast, these Stuffins have proved themselves an ideal complement. But they could also add their flavour and pizzazz to almost any other roasted meat.
And if you wanted to mix and match, you could easily swap the pecan nuts for hazelnuts, the blue cheese for goat’s cheese, or the prunes for dates, because these savoury main course muffins are as versatile as they are tasty.
Jan
STUFFINS
Makes 12
160 gm smoked pancetta, cut into 1cm pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes
¼ teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper
100 gm pecan nuts, roughly broken
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
100 gm pitted prunes, roughly chopped
8 large sage leaves, finely shredded, plus 12 small leaves to top the muffins
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
250 gm buttermilk
90 gm blue cheese (I used Milawa Blue) broken into 1cm pieces
200 gm Revenge plain gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon salt
15 gm basil leaves, roughly torn
Heat the oven to 200°C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
In a medium frying pan, fry the pancetta on a medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring until browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta to a bowl, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the olive oil to the hot pan, then fry the onion, celery, chilli flakes and seasonings. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and browned.
Return the pancetta to the pan, add the pecan nuts, caraway, prunes and chopped sage. Fry for a few minutes more before spooning into a medium bowl.
Leave to cool, then mix in the eggs, buttermilk and 60gm of the blue cheese.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and the quarter-teaspoon of salt into a large bowl, stir in the basil, then add the pancetta mix and gently fold together until just combined.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and top each one with a sage leaf and a little knob of the remaining blue cheese.
Bake the stuffing for 25 minutes, until risen, cooked through and golden brown on top (to test, a skewer should come out clean). Serve warm or at room temperature with Rolled Roast Turkey Breast and Cranberry Relish.
TIP:
Stuffins can be cooked a day or two before required and warmed in the oven while the turkey is resting. They can even be made several weeks ahead and frozen. Remove them to the fridge to defrost, then reheat as above.