Quick and easy dinner: Homemade jambons
Cheesy, delicious jambons, from Milk by John & Sally McKenna published by Estragaon Press.
Makes 12
- 2 sheets puff pastry
For the roasted red onion:
- 2 red onions, cut into quarters, then sliced
- Splash of extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Sprig of thyme, picked
- Small sprinkling of brown sugar
For the cheesy sauce:
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- 250ml full fat milk
- 250g cheese, grated (Templegall, Gubbeen, Coolea, a good creamery Cheddar or bits and bobs from your fridge too.) Reserve a little to sprinkle.
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Pepper and sea salt to taste
- 200g of the best free-range ham you can get your hands on, cut into little cubes
- 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk
To make the caramelised onions: Mix together the onions, oil, seasoning and sprinkle with sugar. Pop in an ovenproof casserole, set around 200°C for 30 minutes, then mix and cover and continue to cook for 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
To make the cheesy sauce: Melt butter at low heat, stir in the flour and mix well until a dough starts to form. Gradually pour in the milk, mixing really well so that there are no lumps in the sauce. Once all the milk has been added, add the grated cheeses and a pinch of nutmeg, pepper and salt. Mix well until you get a thick cheesy sauce. Add the finely cubed ham to the sauce, allow the mixture to cool.
To assemble the jambon: roll out the pastry, and cut each sheet into 6 squares.
Put a scoop of the cheese mixture in the centre of each square and a little of the caramelised onion, on top. Fold the corners to the centre and make sure they overlap (to avoid the ham and cheese from pouring out of the pastry). Pinch together the edges where needed. Brush the egg mix over the pastry and sprinkle the final bit of cheese on top and repeat for the other squares.
Place on an oven tray and bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- From Milk by John & Sally McKenna published by Estragaon Press
