BACON & PECAN STUFFING CORNBREAD

Bacon & pecan stuffing cornbread image

Try our festive take on American cornbread, with bacon, pecans, apricots and cranberries to pack in the flavour. A great Christmas side dish

Provided by Miriam Nice

Time 40m

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

75g butter , melted, plus extra for the tin
250g fine polenta
150g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
500ml buttermilk (or 500ml semi-skimmed milk with a squeeze of lemon juice)
2 eggs , beaten
25g bacon lardons
1 onion , chopped
2 celery sticks , chopped
1 garlic clove , crushed
75g dried apricots , halved
50g pecans , chopped
½ tsp ground nutmeg
250g pork mince
1 ½ tbsp thyme leaves , chopped
25g dried cranberries

Steps:

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Brush a 20 x 30cm roasting tin with melted butter. Combine the polenta, flour, baking powder, sugar and 2 tsp salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix the melted butter, buttermilk and eggs in a jug, then make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Stir well until smooth.
Fry the bacon in a large frying pan until it starts to crisp, then add the onion and celery and cook for 5 mins. Add the rest of the stuffing ingredients and the cornbread mix, season well and stir together.
Scrape it all into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hr or until cooked through. Cut into squares to serve.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 435 calories, Fat 19 grams fat, SaturatedFat 7 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 48 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 11 grams sugar, Fiber 4 grams fiber, Protein 16 grams protein, Sodium 1.9 milligram of sodium