In my family we have a traditional recipe called Forcemeatballs. They are something between stuffing balls and meatballs – but they're really like nothing else I've ever had.

We don't know exactly how long ago the recipe originated, but we do know for certain that my grandmother’s grandmother cooked it for her family in the 1890s. We are also fairly sure that she learnt the recipe from her own grandmother, placing the recipe as far back as the early 1800’s during the reign of King George III. The idea of the recipe was to stretch what meat you could get as far as possible, and this tradition has been passed down mother to daughter every generation since... until now. As far as I'm aware I'm the first man to ever to take over the mantle of making the dish, and as far as I know it’s a unique family recipe.

The base consists of suet, eggs, thyme, parsley, sage, salt, pepper and flour, and this was to be cooked in the fat that collected under the roast turkey at Christmas. During times where meat was less obtainable, this simple recipe would be used without the addition of any meat in order to increase the number of people the roast would serve. My grandmother says that this was certainly the case during the Second World War due to rationing. However, when meat was more readily obtainable, then small pieces of streaky bacon would be added into the mix to make the recipe meatier and more flavoursome. That is the version that I grew up with.

When there isn’t a roast to provide fat for cooking, it can be quite difficult to make Forcemeatballs that are as tasty and juicy as normal. This problem is compounded if you happen to live in one of the colleges in Cambridge that do not provide standard ovens, only microwaves. Nevertheless, using some willing friends as guinea pigs, I invented a modern, more microwave-friendly adaptation that I can make for those long dark evenings at the end of Michaelmas. Instead of suet I used the meat from half a dozen wild boar sausages from Sainsbury’s to provide the juices that would normally come from a roast, and I replaced the bacon with shredded duck. They went down a storm with my friends and are easily the best things I’ve ever produced in a Caius gyp room.

In order to cook Forcemeatballs you will need all of the ingredients below, a large bowl, a large roasting tin and an oven.

1) First mix the breadcrumbs, suet, parsley, thyme, sage, salt and pepper in the bowl, as well as the bacon if you’re using it, ensuring that everything is well mixed.

2) Then add the eggs and stir thoroughly (using your hands is best) until the mixture is moist and sticking to your fingers.

3) You should then coat your hands with flour and roll the mixture into little balls, roughly two inches in diameter (if you want them to be larger then simply extend the cooking time).

4) If you have had a roast, then baste the flour-coated balls in the fat and line them up in the roasting tin. If you have not, then either baste in bacon fat or simply melted butter.

5) Put in the oven at a high temperature (around 200 degrees Celsius in a fan oven) and cook until brown, turning frequently. Always cut one in half to check that they are cooked through.

Ingredients

12 ounces of breadcrumbs

12 ounces of suet

6 eggs

6 tablespoons of parsley

7 heaped teaspoons of sage

2 heaped teaspoons of thyme

1 level teaspoon of salt

1 rounded teaspoon of pepper

½ pound of streaky bacon cut into small pieces (optional)

Small quantity of flour to coat hands when rubbing mixture into balls

Cook in hot fat from turkey

Can be doubled up if more balls are required for more guests.