Haggis with neeps and tatties

Now at first Haggis does not sound that nice when you ask what it is. It is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck', that is to say the heart, liver and lungs, minced with onion, oatmeal, suet and salt. This is seasoned with the all-important spices the most closely guarded secret to any Haggis recipe. Then you add some stock make a sort of stuffing that fills a sheep’s stomach. This is then simmered for approximately three hours and that is your haggis.

Now you might not like the sound of this but take that leap of faith and try it , it has a sort of ruff texture and a  savoury flavour. It uses such cheap cuts of meat as it was more a thing of necessity but if you have eaten black pudding this should not be a problem to you.

As to its original origin according to the grate Alan Davidson, food writer and not comedian, it goes back to Ancient Romans or even earlier. Now I have never made a haggis and I do not think you would get the ingredients easily from the shops but you could from a butcher I am sure if you asked. So for this recipes I say use a ready made haggis.

You will need

One 1 kg/2¼lb haggis

250g/9oz swede cut into quarters

450g/1lb potatoes, quartered

200g/7oz unsalted butter

1 tbsp double cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

200ml/7fl oz dark lamb stosk

1 large onion

1tsp oil

25g/1oz butter

25g/1oz plane flour

So to cook the haggis the best thing to do is read the instructions on the side but you will probably have to  bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the haggis, and simmer for about  75 minutes. Keep a eye on the water topping up if necessary, do not let it boil dry.

For the  neeps  place the  swede in a pan with just a little water so it only half covers the sewed ,  then cover then pan and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until tender. Once again do not let it boil dry what you are doing is steaming the swede in its own juice. This gives it a very rich flavour that you normally just throw out with the water. Once it is cooked most of the water should be gone add half the butter and seson with salt and pepper and mash.

For the tatties in another pan bring the potato  to the boil , then turn down the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until cooked . Drain of the water  and back in the pan add the remaining butter and cream. Mash the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

To make the gravy add the onions to a pan with a little oil and fry until the onions have gone nice and dark. Then add the butter and the four and work this in to the onions so that all the flour has cooked in to the butter. Now add the stock a little at a time letting the stock cook in to the sauce. Once all the stock has been added season with salt and pepper and either, add some more water or let it cook and thicken a little all depending on how you like your gravy

So to serve every thing together, cut the haggis open and divide the stuffing from the centre in to four plates. Now spoon the tatties and neeps alongside. Finally drizzle some of the gravy over top and that is it.