Love your leftovers
Faggots and peas recipe
I hate food waste. Now I know that no one likes it, but I often feel as if I sometimes take it to the extreme, whether it’s eating the same things for days on end as I’ve made too much, refusing to throw away the end of something (leftover Sunday roast gravy, jam jar dregs etc.) in case I can “do something with it”, or inventing weird and wonderful combinations to use up what’s in the fridge (veg drawer risotto anyone?). I think the basis of this need to not let a scrap go to waste comes from my Nans – they were such thrifty cooks. But I also think part of me loves the challenge. And never one to want to let a puzzle beat me, I adore repurposing leftovers. Bit of chilli con carne from Friday night’s dinner? Chilli cheese toasty for lunch. Couple of scoops of spare mashed potato? Corned beef hash croquettes.
When I think of food waste, my mind mostly comes to leftovers, and yet food waste happens much earlier on in the chain – be it supermarkets ditching irregular veg, or even further back in the chain to discarded offal. Having eaten pretty much every part of a pig at some point during either my travels or my time living in Spain, I appreciate how much can be done with these bits that many get squeamish or snobby about – although I’m personally yet to be completely convinced by trotters.
Traditionally, Wales has been pretty good at nose-to-tail eating, thanks in no small part to its strong farming communities, the expense of prime cuts and the need for spend-thrift eating, and the continued use of traditional recipes. And while I think there was a dip for several years, the idea of using all parts of the animal – both for sustainability and through new-found appreciation for ‘forgotten’ cuts – is on the increase again and is something I wholeheartedly endorse. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this week’s recipe that is still a firm favourite in Wales and one that sings to my feelings of waste not, want not.
The Recipe
Faggots and peas
I’ve been watching Russell T Davies’s new series It’s A Sin (if you haven’t seen it yet, do. It’s a beautiful piece of humorous and heart-wrenching drama and one of the best programmes I’ve seen in a long time) and when one of the young characters – Colin – visits his mum in Wales, she prepares faggots and peas for tea (or dinner if that’s what you call your evening meal). It struck me as something so typically Welsh – a dish of homeliness, warmth and almost medicinal nourishment.
Faggots were always something we ate when staying on holiday in my Nannie Gwen’s caravan in Porthcawl. They’d most likely be the Mr Brain’s version from the local supermarket thrown into the saucepan from frozen with water, several beef Oxo cubes (enough to make your tongue sting a little) and a good splash of gravy browning. Is that a South Wales trait I wonder? Having gravy so black and thick you can stand a fork up in it? Anyway, Nan would add in a tin of Bigga Marrowfat Peas and cut up slices of thick white Braces Bread into squares for us to dip in and soak up all the gravy.
While I have nothing against Mr Brain, I do think that this is one of those things that definitively does taste better made from scratch. Now, you probably won’t have heart lying around – one of the traditional ingredients along with the rest of the butcher’s scraps – but here I use pork belly as the main base and it works just as well and is readily available. This recipe is for around 12 faggots as I always make them in bulk and freeze half in portions of two, so I have them on hand for a quick midweek warmer. You can easily half the recipe quantities if you don’t want to make as many.
Ingredients (makes 12-14 faggots)
For the faggots:
500g pork belly, trimmed of any very large bits of fat and cut into chunks
300g lamb’s liver (or pig’s liver, or prepared heart)
4 rashers of bacon
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 large apple, roughly chopped
120g breadcrumbs
2 free-range eggs
4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/2tsp fine sea salt
2tsp ground mace (or mix of nutmeg and ginger)
2tsp ground black pepper
300ml beef stock
Butter for greasing
For the gravy:
1tbsp lard of a good drizzle of olive oil
1tbsp plain flour
1l beef stock (use two stock cubes)
Splash of gravy browning
For the peas:
1 tin Bigga Marrowfat peas (or two handfuls of frozen garden peas, or 1 tin mushy peas)
Method
In a food processor, first blitz the pork belly until course and empty into a large mixing bowl. Then blitz the liver and bacon and transfer to the bowl. Finally, blitz the onion and apple and add to the bowl. Tip in all the other faggot ingredients – except the butter and stock – and mix together until well combined.
Lightly grease the base of a large meat tin or cast iron casserole pot with butter or olive oil and preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C.
Using your hands, make 12 large meatballs using the raw mixture (my favourite part) and place evenly spread out in the tin.
Pour over the 300ml beef stock and cover the whole tin fully with foil. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 35 mins, then remove the foil and cook for a further 20 mins until cooked through and browned on top.
Carefully remove the faggots to a plate.
Transfer the meat juices and crusty bits of meat from the roasting pan to a large saucepan, and gently heat along with a good drizzle of olive oil or a tablespoon of lard.
When the fat is hot, tip in the flour and combine well. Start adding the stock bit by bit stirring all the time to form a gravy.
Add the splash of gravy browning to deepen the colour and return the faggots to the pan.
Drain the peas from the tin and then add them to the pan. Heat for a few minutes until the gravy has thickened and everything is hot.
Serve in deep bowls with a generous sprinkling of pepper and plenty of bread to soak up the gravy.
Many people serve them with mashed potato but I love it just with bread.
If you try it out, don’t forget to tag any photos with #mywelshkitchen
The Playlist
To me, cooking and music go hand in hand, whether that’s singing at the top of your voice using a wooden spoon as a microphone while waiting for pasta to boil, or dancing around with the oven gloves on as the oven timer counts down. Here are this week’s ideas for your Welsh Kitchen playlist.
Monday was Santes Dwynwen’s Day in Wales. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers and so this week’s music choices have love as the theme. Firstly, we have a little video from the very talented Sam Ebenezer with a clever little mash-up of love songs – this is a pure joyous two minutes out of your day (or ten, if like me you watch it five times). Then we have the classic welsh hymn, Calon Lân (pure heart), and finally, crank the volume up, grab your rolling pin or wooden spoon and sing along at the top of your lungs with a Bonnie Tyler classic. Sock it to us Bonnie!
Calon Lân by Only Boys Aloud
Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
The Pantry
Good food is nothing without good ingredients and thankfully there are plenty of fantastic Welsh products on the market. Here is where you’ll find recommendations to stock up your cupboard, fridge or fruit bowl.
Valentine’s Day Meal Kit from Thomas By Tom Simmons
Talking of patron saints of love, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and I spotted this incredible looking meal kit box from Tom Simmons. I first got a taste of Tom’s food at his Tower Bridge restaurant in London – think Welsh ingredients cooked with French flair. Last year Tom opened Thomas is Cardiff serving up a menu with distinctly Welsh flavours and heritage, plus a rather glorious cocktail bar. The restaurant is now offering a range of click-and-collect meals, but this Valentine’s box (either meaty or veggie) – including sourdough with truffle and mushroom butter for starters, and orange and white chocolate bars for afters – is available for nationwide (UK) delivery.