Faggots In Rich Onion Gravy Recipe – How To Make this traditional comfort food

Faggots are a really traditional British dish. For many years they have been enjoyed by older generations as a cheap dinner and a tasty one to boot!

For those that haven’t tried faggots before, they are best described as a large savoury meatball. They are traditionally made with meat and offal and includes things like heart and lungs and wrapped in caul fat taken from the pig’s stomach.

For many, the idea of eating heart and lungs etc is not just a step too far but a giant leap too far and I include myself in that!!

But shying away from faggots means missing out on the most deliciously savoury and comforting meal.

Our recipe doesn’t included all of the traditional cuts of offal but does make use of the cheap cuts of meat that create such a wonderful flavour.

The recipe does include pigs liver, which is very nutritious. It is one of the most nutrient dense foods available and includes vitamin D. For this reason alone it really should be part of more people’s diet and especially so in the darker winter months.

Even if you don’t normally eat liver, adding it into faggots brings all of it’s dietary benefits without actually feeling like you are eating liver and pickier members of the family need never know!

This recipe is also very simple and easy to prepare with just a few ingredients and a little time.

You can choose to put the meat through a mincer attachment on a stand mixer or or a hand mincer machine or you can use a food processor. The final texture will be slightly different as mincing will give you more texture and the food processor with give a smoother result. The food processor is slightly quicker too.

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Faggots in rich onion gravy recipe

makes 6 large faggots or 8 smaller ones

For the faggots

• 300g pork shoulder – cut into 2-3cm (1″) cubes
• 100g pig’s liver – sliced if necessary to fit into the mincer
• 1/2 slice of thin white bread – cut into 2-3cm (1″) cubes
• 1/2 x 170g (so 85g total) pack sage & onion stuffing mix – made up with boiling water as instructed on the box (usually around 400ml for the whole pack so you’ll only need 200ml)
• dried sage – 1 teaspoon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

for the rich onion gravy

• 1 large onion – sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 800ml beef stock – made with 3 OXO cubes or alternative
• 1 dessertspoon tomato puree (2 teaspoons)
• black pepper – use plenty (I use about 12 twists of a pepper mill) or to taste

how to make faggots in rich onion gravy

Heat the oven to 170°c / 150°c fan / gas 3

Tip the stuffing mix (remember – just half of the packet!) into a heatproof bowl and pour on boiling water as instructed on the back of the box (again – just half the amount!). We use Tesco own brand stuffing mix and this equates to 85g of the stuffing mix and 200ml of water). Mix thoroughly and leave to one side to cool.

If you are mincing the meat, place your mincer attachment onto your stand mixer or use a hand mincer machine with a coarse screen and pass the pork shoulder through and into a mixing bowl placed underneath.

Follow this with the pig’s liver. Finally, pass the bread through the mincer too as this will help push the remaining meat through the mincer.

If you are using a food processor, place the meat and the liver into the bowl and pulse to chop them up. Don’t overdo it and make it too smooth if you want some texture to your faggots!

Use a fork to break up the now cool stuffing and add the minced meats to it along with the dried sage and nutmeg. Mix together very thoroughly until everything is well blended.

Shape the faggots

With wetted hands to stop the mixture sticking, form the mixture into 6 evenly sized balls. If you want to do this very accurately, weigh the mixture before you start then divide the total by 6. Each faggot should be around 100g or a little over. If you want to make eight smaller ones then they will be around 80g each.

Place the faggots into a greased baking dish and put to one side while you make the rich onion gravy.

how to make the rich onion gravy

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions and fry gently until they are soft and golden.

Add the plain flour and the tomato puree to the onions and stir through. Keep stirring for a minute to allow the flour and tomato puree to mix in thoroughly.

Pour in the beef stock and turn up the heat, stirring all the time until the mixture thickens into a gravy consistency.

Allow the mixture to simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour the rich onion gravy over the faggots in the baking tray and cover with foil.

Place the tray into the oven and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Serve the faggots with a pile of creamy mashed potatoes and peas and spoon over the onion gravy.

Don’t waste the oven heat!

Any casserole will happily cook away at the bottom of the oven while your faggots cook on the upper shelves, which is great for getting ahead as casseroles are wonderful reheated the next day of for stashing away in the freezer.

 Try our recipes for Pork Casserole Warmed With Mild Spices or Chicken Casserole or even Cheese and Onion Potato Bake – just extend the cooking times a little to make sure that everything is cooked through.