Sunday 26 January is Burns’ Night: the worldwide celebration of Scottish poet and inspirational cultural icon Robert (‘Rabbie’) Burns’ birthday. In the kitchen, this means only one thing: haggis!
This recipe presents haggis plus the traditional neeps and tatties accompaniment in a familiar, family-friendly format: a Scottish Shepherd’s Pie, if you like, rich, comforting and guaranteed to chase the deep midwinter chills away.
If you’d prefer to lighten the load, vegetarian haggis is a super-flavoursome alternative for offal-avoiders, and the red wine in this recipe can be substituted for the same amount of vegetable stock.
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stick of celery, sliced
1 small haggis (usually 454g)
400g can chopped tomatoes
125ml red wine
300g swede, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks
3 large floury potatoes (eg. King Edward), peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks
To serve: seasonal greens
Method
Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan and sauté the onion, carrot and celery over a medium heat for around 10 minutes while you remove the haggis from its packaging, cut into chunks and microwave for half the time stated on the pack instructions. Add the warm haggis chunks to the vegetables in the pan and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and red wine, stir well and simmer (uncovered) for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the swede and simmer for 15 minutes before adding the potatoes to the pan and continuing to simmer for a further 10-15 minutes or until both the swede and the potatoes are soft enough for mashing. Drain well, allow to steam dry in a colander, return to the pan and beat in the butter, milk and white pepper to taste to create a smooth mash.
Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. Tip the haggis mixture into a suitably-sized baking dish, top with the mash and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling around the edges. Allow the pie to ‘settle’ for around 5 minutes before serving with buttered seasonal greens.
