Sage, leek & onion balls

• vegetable or sunflower oil4 tbsp tbsp
• onions↗2

  finely chopped

• leek↗1

  finely sliced into rings

• celery↗2

  sticks, finely chopped

• pack good-quality pork sausage↗450g g

  meat squeezed out

• pack sage↗20g g

  leaves finely chopped

• white breadcrumb↗140g g
• large egg↗1
• smoked dry-cured streaky bacon↗8

  rashers, halved and stretched out a bit

• sage↗

  sprig, to garnish (optional)

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then soften the onions, leek and celery for 15 mins with the pan covered. Put the sausagemeat into a bowl. Once the onion mix has cooled, tip onto the sausagemeat, add the sage, bread, egg and seasoning, then mix really well with your hands.

2. 2

   Set aside 250g to stuff the turkey, then shape the rest into 16 balls, wrapping each with bacon. Sit these on a non-stick baking sheet, cover with foil, then bake for 15 mins. Uncover, then bake 30 mins more until the bacon is golden. Garnish with a sage sprig, if you like.