Rose Veal Bacon Bites

Party food. Oh YES. 

Love it. 

And when I was sent some minced rose veal by online free-range butcher Farmer's Choice I knew it was going to end up as either a burger or meatball recipe. I started thinking about bacon - that had to be in there somewhere, because bacon - and then for some reason while I had the two ingredients floating about in my head, I got an incredible craving for sage. And so, these rose veal bacon bites were born. 

They are so gorgeous. And I am totally not just saying that. 

These are good for a party food nibble, or as a side dish to a roast with all the trimmings. They take around 20 minutes to put together, and they're so easy. 

Here's how. 

Rose Veal Bacon Bites 

Makes 9

Ingredients

250g minced rose veal

pinch of salt

half a teaspoon dried sage

9 rashers smoked streaky bacon

9 fresh sage leaves

half a teaspoon of oil - I used mild coconut oil, but keep it coconut-free and use bacon fat, lard or whatever oil you usually fry things with.

Method

Put the rose veal mince into a bowl and add the salt and sage - mix gently until well combined, but not too much - you want to keep the light, fluffy texture of the meat. 

Roll into small bite-sized meatballs - you should get 9 meatballs out of the mixture. Place on a baking or roasting tray. Wrap a rasher of bacon around each meatball, placing it down on the baking sheet with the overlapping bacon underneath. 

Roast for about 20 minutes in an oven preheated to gas mark 6/200ºC until sizzling and fully cooked. Leave to cool slightly while you make the crisp sage leaves. 

Rinse the sage leaves under a cold tap and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Heat the oil gently in a small frying pan and gently add the sage leaves, one by one, so that they’re flat in the pan. Sizzle for a minute or two and then turn them over to cook on the other side. They should crispen up in a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer to kitchen paper to drain. 

Serve the bacon-wrapped meatballs slightly warm, with a crispy sage leaf placed on top. 

This post was supported by Farmers Choice, who provided the lovely rose veal and a contribution towards the ingredients used. I've always found their meat of the highest quality, so do go check them out.