Haggis with leeks, scallops, neeps and tattie chips with a whisky and ginger wine sauce.
Haggis and Burns Night – a celebration of the life of Robert Burns and there must be few foods that bring people together to celebrate, share food and enjoy an entertaining night like haggis does. Thanks to the Bard penning ‘To a Haggis’ over the years it has become a much loved dish at home and abroad.
One wonders what Burns himself would make of the worldwide celebrations and the iconic status that haggis enjoys as Scotland’s national dish. Of course when Rabbie ate his haggis back in 1786 it would not have been served in the style it enjoys today.
Haggis and Burns Suppers
Haggis is synonymous with Burns suppers but as a food, how we eat haggis has undergone some change in recent years. No longer just served in traditional way with neeps and tatties on the side, haggis is up there as the star attraction in many recipes. Indeed, so much so that it has it’s own bible written by Scotland’s own queen of haggis, Jo Macsween, a second generation Edinburgh haggis producer.
There are endless possibilities to use it as an ingredient and perusing through some popular recipes it is obviously an alternative to another Scottish favourite – mince.
When I was asked by About Scotland and Scotmid to come up with a recipe using haggis, I wanted it to be a twist on the usual haggis meal but still using the traditional ingredients. This recipe uses neeps and tatties but also includes some other Scottish favourites, scallops and whisky.
Recipe
Preheat the oven to 220C/180 Fan Gas 7
Ingredients
2 large potatoes and half a small swede – sliced into equal length chips. Rapeseed or olive oil. 1 small leek – finely chopped. Approx 50g butter. 4 slices of haggis. 4 scallops – scallops are usually available shucked, trimmed and ready to cook. 30ml Scotch Whisky. 75ml Ginger wine ( I used Crabbies Green Ginger) 1 tsp coarsley crushed green or black peppercorns. 75ml double cream
Tatties and swede chips. Par boil the potatoes and swede for 5 mins, drain and dry. Transfer to an oven tray, add 1-2 tbsp of oil and mix to ensure the chips are well coated. Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and cook for 20 minutes or until chips are crisp and slightly golden.
Leek. Heat the butter in a medium size pan, add the leek and cook gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Keep the pan for making the sauce.
Haggis. Cook the haggis according to the instructions on the pack.
Scallops – I coated the scallops in oil and cooked on a griddle pan, over a medium to high heat for 1-2 minutes on each side. If using a frying pan, heat 1-2 tbsp oil and cook the scallops for the same time.
Sauce -Add the whisky to the pan and set alight. Add the ginger wine and crushed peppercorns. Reheat, stir in the cream and heat gently for 1 minute.
Serve
Top the slices of haggis with a spoonful of leeks and place a scallop on top. drizzle over the whisky and ginger wine sauce and serve with the tatties and neeps chips on the side.
Find out more about Scottish food and drink and the history of Robert Burns at www.scotland.org
This post was sponsored by Scotmid and About Scotland
Images- Whisky and Haggis. Thanks to Andrew Ramsay of Ramsay of Carluke for permission to use this image.
Griddle Pan – The griddle pan featured in this post was provided by Stellar Cookware.