Vegetarian Haggis with Carrot and Coriander Clapshot

Countdown to Burns' Night 2015

Vegetarian haggis with mashed tatties, neeps and carrots

Burns' Night 2015 (25th January, should anyone be in any doubt!) is now less than three weeks away. As the big day falls on a Sunday this year, it will present many people with the opportunity to be more productive/creative in the kitchen than when it falls on a week day. With this fact in mind, I thought I would take a look at a few ways in which you can spice up your Burns Supper this year, while still remaining largely true to the traditional haggis, tatties and neeps. I thought I would kick off this feature by looking at something which is becoming more and more widely available: vegetarian haggis!

Vegetarian haggis is rolled in tinfoil for steaming

This particular haggis was designed to serve two people. There are many different ways in which you can reheat haggis (normal or vegetarian) and while I normally prefer to simmer it in boiling water, on this occasion I took the suggestion from the pack of reheating it in the oven in a casserole dish.

Vegetarian haggis ready to be oven steamed in casserole dish

My oven went on to preheat to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 while I carefully wrapped the haggis in foil and added it to a casserole dish with about an inch of water. The lid went on the dish and it went in to the oven for an hour and ten minutes.

Tatties, neeps and carrots ready for boiling

Clapshot is a combination of principally mashed potatoes and Swede turnip (tatties and neeps) with chives. In this instance, however, I've included carrot as well as tatties and neeps. I peeled and chopped one large baking potato, half a small turnip (rutabaga, in US) and a couple of medium carrots to evenly sized largish pieces. They went in to a pot with some salt and plenty of cold water and were simmered for about twenty minutes until just softened.

Steamed vegetarian haggis is carefully unwrapped

I timed the vegetables to be ready about the same time as the haggis. When I took the haggis from the oven, I very carefully unwrapped the foil and let it sit for a few minutes while I drained the vegetables and returned them to the pot. The veg were also left for a few minutes to steam off before they were mashed with butter and white pepper. Instead of chives, I then stirred through about a tablespoon of freshly chopped coriander (cilantro).

While the haggis was resting and the vegetables were steaming off, I put some frozen peas in to a pot of boiling water for three minutes.

Be careful when you cut in to the haggis as you make get a couple of hot splashes flying around. The haggis and carrot clapshot can then be plated with the drained peas spooned on to the plates and seasoned with black pepper and malt vinegar.

Vegetarian haggis is cut and ready to serve