Jalapeño, chorizo and cheese muffins
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Dietary
- Nut-free
These savoury muffins combine chorizo, bacon and jalapeño with a rich three-cheese filling and crisp Parmesan topping. Great as a savoury snack.
Ingredients
For the cheese sauce
For the muffins
- 300g/10½oz plain flour
- 115g/4oz unsalted butter
- pinch caster sugar
- 1½ tbsp baking powder
- 2 streaky bacon rashers, cooked and finely chopped
- 50g/1¾oz cheddar, grated
- 115ml/3¾fl oz buttermilk
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
For the Parmesan crisps
- 140g/5oz Parmesan, grated
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the cheese sauce, heat the duck fat in a frying pan. Add the chorizo and fry until crisp. Add the jalapeño and cook for a further 1–2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring. Gradually add the milk, whisking continuously until smooth. Cook until thickened.
Add the manchego, gruyère, cheddar and nutmeg. Cook over a low heat, stirring, until the cheese has melted.
Stir in the cooked chorizo mixture and any fat from the frying pan. Transfer the cheese sauce to a piping bag and set aside.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Put the flour in a large bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, baking powder, bacon and cheddar.
Gradually add the buttermilk and bring the mixture together to form a dough.
Press some of the dough into the muffin moulds, covering the bases and sides and leaving an overhang around the top.
Pipe the cheese sauce into each muffin. Fold the overhanging dough over the filling to enclose it. Take care not to pierce the base of the dough or the cheese sauce may leak out during baking. Top with the grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes.
To make the Parmesan crisps, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Spoon heaped tablespoons of the grated Parmesan into separate piles on the prepared tray, leaving space between each one as they will spread.
Bake for 5–6 minutes, or until melted and crisp. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Leave the muffins to cool for a couple of minutes. Top each one with a Parmesan crisp and serve.
