PANETTONE STUFFING SQUARES

These can also be served at parties or over drinks in small squares, like savoury brownies. As ever, feel free to substitute the plainer pandoro if you wish, though I do think the rich fruitiness is part of this unconventional canapé’s charm. This should make about 2kg.

Makes 48 little squares

4 echalion or banana shallots, or 2 onions (approx 250g/9oz total)

2 eating apples (approx 250g/9oz total)

375g (13oz) pancetta slices or rindless streaky bacon

2 sticks of celery

4 large fresh sage leaves

3 tbsp garlic oil

200g (7oz) vacuum-packed chestnuts

Zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

500g (1lb 2oz) panettone (or pandoro), slightly staled, sliced

2 eggs Olive oil, for greasing You will need

1 x foil tray or ovenproof dish, approx 30cm x 20cm

Peel and halve the shallots (or peel and quarter the onions) and quarter and core the apples. Roughly cut up the pancetta (or bacon). Drop the shallot or onion and the apple pieces into the bowl of a food processor, along with the celery sticks, snapped in half, and the sage leaves. Process in a short burst to start the chopping, before adding the roughly cut pancetta (or bacon), and blitz at full pelt until finely chopped. Don’t worry about the mixture’s wetness; mush is what I expect. You could chop everything by hand, though; in which case, don’t expect to get everything as minced as it would be in the processor. Anything goes.

Heat the garlic oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan and fry this mixture, stirring every now and again, for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables et al have softened. Remove the fried mixture to a large bowl, crumble in the chestnuts, grate in the lemon zest and squeeze in the juice, then tear and crumble in the panettone (or pandoro), and – I use my hands for this – combine everything into a squidgy, fragrant paste. (If you’re making this in advance, leave it to cool at this stage, then cover and transfer to the fridge where it can stand for up to 2 days.)

When you are ready to cook this, preheat the oven to 200°C/ fan 180°C/gas 6 and let the stuffing come to room temperature. Uncover the bowl, beat the eggs and mix them in, then spread the mixture into a foil tray or lightly greased ovenproof dish, and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges brown and begin to come away from the tray or dish and a cake tester comes out clean.