Fair Fa your honest sonsie face

First bake of the year, and its something Scottish! Robert Burns night is on Monday 25th January, so I thought I would go back to my roots and make a slight twist to the traditional Haggis Neeps and Tatties, with two different ways to present them.

The presentation can be made using regular haggis, and you can make them non vegan by using the equivalent amount of butter- instead of the vegetable shortening.

Vegan Haggis

Ingredients

Spice Mix

1/2 tbsp allspice

2 tbsp cracked black pepper

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tbsp thyme

Egg wash alternative

soy milk (unsweetened with 1-2 tsp sugar)

Haggis

1 medium red onion

1 large carrot

3 closed cup mushrooms

1x vegetable stock cube in 300ml water

400ml Borlotti Beans (in water)

400ml green lentils (in water)

Spice mix (see other side)

50g chopped cashews

50g chopped hazelnuts

200g oatmeal

Method

Take 1 medium red onion and dice it to tiny cubes, 1 large carrot and dice to tiny slices, 3 closed cup mushrooms- diced, place to one side.

Now take 1 vegetable stock cube and add 300ml of water. Add the water from a 400ml can of Barlotti beans, and also the water from a 400ml can of green lentils. This should bring it to around 500ml, if not, just add more hot water. Let the stock dissolve and stew.

Premix your spices, you need 1/2 tbsp Allspice, 2 tbsp Cracked black pepper, 1tsp ground pepper, 1tsp cayenne pepper and 1/2 tbsp Thyme.

Either buy 50g of pre-chopped cashews or chop using a food processor. You need 50g of chopped hazelnuts as well.

In a large pan, add the vegetables, then the borlotti beans and lentils. Pour in the majority of the stock and let the mix simmer on a medium heat for 3 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add the nuts. Then add 200g of oatmeal. The mixture may suddenly dry out, so add the rest of your stock mix so the consistency becomes looser and you can stir again. Add your spice mix and stir until all the water is gone.

Now, take a potato masher, and mash the mix up until it becomes, what I like to call, stodgy haggis mess. You can eat this as is, or continue on to make it into some parcels using the pastry.