20Super Bowl 2015 – Paleo Style
It’s that time of year again…the 49th Super Bowl is rapidly approaching this weekend (Sunday, February 1st at 3:30pm PST). I’ll admit I’m not a terribly huge football fan, but being from Washington State, I can’t help but be stoked that the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl…for the second year in a row! Go Hawks! :) It’s not that I don’t like football, it’s more that I don’t quite understand the rules of the game, no matter how many times they are explained to me. I also can’t quite wrap my mind around the concept of giant men in tiny outfits injuring one another while they chase after funny-shaped, and apparently sometimes inappropriately soft balls. Ha!
Speaking of soft (and changing the subject), I have a super soft spot in my heart for Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. I grew up watching college football with my dad, who loved rooting for his alma mater when Pete Carroll was coaching the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans. I think it’s so cool that Pete Carroll is coaching the Seahawks now, after nearly 10 years with USC, and I know my dad would be proud too. :)
Paleo Pigs in a Blanket
I have some very fon
d memories of my mom making us pigs in a blanket to eat while we watched college football together. I must have been 6 or 7 at the time, as I quit eating meat when I was 8 years old. Needless to say, these piggies were not at all Paleo, but they were ridiculously delicious, and my pops and I gobbled ‘em up by the plateful.
Throughout my 25 years of vegetarianism, and even after eating Paleo for several years, I would occasionally get a nostalgic hankering for pigs in a blanket, especially during football season. So a few years ago when Pete Carroll accepted the job as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, I was inspired to make some Paleo pigs in a blanket to celebrate!
As you might notice, this picture is a few years old (Super Bowl 2013), and at the time, both the Seahawks and my pigs in a blanket recipe were in need of more practice. Since then, we have both improved immensely, and I’m excited to share my new and improved Paleo Pigs in a Blanket recipe with you just in time for the 2015 Super Bowl season, to enjoy while watching the Seattle Seahawks face off against the New England Patriots…Go Hawks! :)
Healthy Cocktail Sausages?
But enough with all this hogwash (pun totally intended), let’s get to the meat of this article already! Paleo Pigs in a Blanket are super easy to throw together, and are made from only six ingredients (seven if you want to dip them in dijon mustard or ketchup): almond flour, salt, baking soda, egg, coconut oil, and piggies. The recipe calls for using
uncured, fully-cooked, nitrate-free, smoked cocktail weiners. I use Beeler’s brand uncured smoked cocktail sausages (pictured here), which are sold at my local co-op.
‘Healthy’ cocktail sausages can be difficult to track down, and your best bet is at a health food store. Most li’l smokey-type weiners contain weird ingredients like nitrates, gluten, sugar, soy, preservatives, and chemicals that no one can pronounce. Be sure to read the ingredient list on the package! Applegate carries an organic little smokey cocktail pork frank that would work great for this recipe, as do some other quality companies (like Beeler’s). Don’t worry if you can’t find a suitable cocktail weiner, just cut up all-natural pork or beef hot dogs into 2” pieces and use them instead.
How to Make Paleo Pigs in a Blanket
The recipe to make Paleo Pigs in a Blanket is essentially the same as our Halloweiner recipe that we posted for Halloween. The images here are of me making the Halloweiners, and the only difference between this and making Paleo Pigs in a Blanket is that you’ll wrap the sausages in one broad strip of almond flour, about 1 inch in width (instead of several smaller strips). This recipe makes about 25 piggies, and that’s about how many “Li’l bites” are contained in one package of Beeler’s cocktail sausages. They take about 10-20 minutes to put together, and another 20-30 minutes in the oven.
Ingredients to Make Paleo Pigs in a Blanket
25 uncured, fully-cooked, nitrate-free, smoked cocktail weiners
1 ½ cups of blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
Instructions to Make Paleo Pigs in a Blanket
[1] Preheat oven to 350° F and pull out a baking sheet.
[2] Combine the dry ingredients (almond flour, sea salt, baking soda) in a medium-sized bowl.
[3] In a separate small bowl, whip together the egg and melted coconut oil with a fork.
[4] Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together to form a ball of dough.
[5] Place the dough ball on a cutting board, and cover with a piece of parchment paper cut to the size of the baking sheet you will be using.
[6] Roll out the dough using a rolling pin (or something cylindrical), until you have a flat thin sheet approximately ⅛” thick.
[7] Cut strips approximately 1”- 1 ½” wide to make the “blanket” for your piggies.
[8] Remove cocktail weiners from package, and pat dry.
[9] Carefully wrap the cocktail weiners in the strips of almond flour, forming the dough firmly around the sausages.
[10] Place the same sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and then place the pigs in their blankets onto the lined baking sheet.
[11] Bake at 350° F for 20 to 30 minutes, until dough is cooked through and lightly browned.
[12] Let the piggies cool for a few moments on the baking sheet before removing them.
[13] Serve with dijon mustard, ketchup, or another Paleo-friendly dipping sauce.
[14] Enjoy your Paleo-friendly Pigs in a Blanket at the Super Bowl, and Go Hawks! :-)
Wishing all you fellow cavepeeps a super safe and healthy Super Bowl Sunday!
In good health,
