Sausage and bacon frikadeller, onion and mustard sauce

Slit the skins of 225g pork sausages  (mine were biological Brandt&Levie's fennel seed and red wine sausages) and remove the meat. Put into a bowl and discard the skins. Add 75g finely diced bacon to the sausage, mix in 1 tsp chopped parsley and check the seasoning. Roll the mixture into table tennis-sized balls, about 45g each, so you have 6 balls. Set them apart on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over a moderate heat, add the frikadeller and let them brown appetisingly, turning from time to time. Transfer to a baking dish. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.

For the sauce, peel and finely slice 200g onions. Warm 1,5 tbsp olive oil in the pan in which you fried the frikadeller and add the onions. Lower the heat, partially cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes until soft and pale gold. Add 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, 3 juniper berries and 1 bay leaf.  An occasional stir will help the onions to cook evenly. 

Bake the frikadeller in the oven for 15 mins until cooked trough. If you need to keep them warm while you finish, switch off the oven and cover with foil

Halve 250g red cabbage and shred finely. Heat 1,5 tbsp oil in a deep pan or casserole, add the cabbage and 2 cloves and cover. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, giving it an occasional stir, then add 2 tbsp cider vinegar and replace the lid. Leave to cook for 2 minutes, then stir in 1 tbsp red currant jelly and add a little salt and pepper. 

Stir 1/2 tbsp grain mustard and 50g crême fraiche into the onions and let it bubble briefly, adding a little salt and pepper. 

Transfer the cabbage to a serving bowl, place the frikadeller among the cabbage, then spoon over the onion sauce and serve. 

(Click here for Nigel Slater's original recipe)

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