Saintly lemon and thyme pork stuffing

They say if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen  - well they didn’t consider saints! A new cookbook with a difference, Saintly Feasts: Food for Saints and Scholars links every recipe with a saint, from St Wilgefortis ‘St Cucumber’ to St John, who was plunged into a pot of boiling oil but emerged unscathed.

The authors, Martina Maher and Colette Scully are two Irish ladies living in Birmingham who have been cooking Sunday Lunch for the Jesuits for 22 years. One among them, Dries van der Akker SJ, with a special interest in saints and their stories often matched some element of the meal with a canonised figure from history. When the ladies (now aged 91 and 76 respectively) decided to hang up their aprons, the concept of a complete book of recipes and associated saints came about.

Saintly Feasts: Food for Saints and Scholars by Martina Maher and Colette Scully, with Dries van der Akker SJ (Messenger Publications, €19.95) is available now.

Below we have a recipe for lemon and thyme pork stuffing, which is linked to Saint Blaise of Sebaste

Serves 6–8 

Preparation: 10 minutes 

Cooking: 10 minutes, plus cooling 

You will need

25g/1oz butter 

1 small onion, chopped 

450g/1lb pork sausage meat 

55g/2oz fresh white breadcrumbs 

Juice and finely grated zest of ½ large lemon 

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 

Leaves from 3 fresh thyme sprigs 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes, or until softened. 

Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well, then set aside and leave to cool.  This is now ready to stuff the neck end of the turkey. 

About Saint Blaise

Saint Blaise is said, while on his way to a martyr’s death, to have cured a child who had a fish bone stuck in his throat. He is well known because of the blessing of throats with two crossed candles given in his name in many churches. However, another story links him to the pork which figures in this recipe. A very poor widow lost her only possession, a pig, to a ravenous wolf. She asked Blaise for help and, sure enough, the pig was duly returned by the obedient wolf. When Blaise was imprisoned before his execution, the thoughtful lady brought him a dish with the head and paws of the pig. Her kindness is mirrored by that of the two ladies who have prepared these recipes.