Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
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Ingredients
1 large swede, about 800g, peeled and diced
1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 x 375g sheet ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
75g butter
3 tbsp milk
1 x 454g haggis
100ml whisky
2 tbsp chopped parsley, optional
For the gravy
2 small onions, finely chopped
3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp tomato purée
600ml chicken stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp grain mustard
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Prepare to the end of step 5 up to 24 hours ahead. Allow an extra 10-15 minutes cooking time, to heat through completely from chilled.
Start off by cooking the swede and potatoes in separate pans of salted boiling water until tender. The swede will take 30-35 minutes, the potatoes about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, use the pastry to line a deep 23cm tart tin or metal pie dish, rolling it out a little further first if needed. Trim off the excess, prick the base, and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5.
Drain the swede and potatoes and return them to their separate pans to steam dry for a couple of minutes. Add 25g butter and plenty of freshly grated nutmeg to the swede, and 40g butter to the potatoes, along with the milk. Mash the potatoes first, followed by the swede, seasoning to taste. Leave to cool slightly.
Place the tart case on a baking tray, and line with crumpled baking paper. Add some baking beans, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Lift out the beans and paper then return the tart tin to the oven for 10 minutes until the pastry looks crisp and dry. Remove from the oven.
Crumble the haggis into a bowl and mix in 50ml of whisky, and the parsley if using; stir to combine. Spoon into the tart case and press down to make an even layer. Add the swede as the next layer, followed by the mashed potato. Rough up the surface and dot with the remaining 10g butter.
Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and piping hot in the centre; cover with foil if it is browning too much.
Meanwhile, for the gravy, cook the onions in the oil in a medium pan for 8-10 minutes until soft. Turn up the heat, sprinkle in the sugar and cook until starting to caramelise. Stir in the flour and tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Remove from the heat and gradually blend in the stock. Return to the heat and bring to a simmer, stirring until thickened. Leave to bubble for 10-15 minutes on a low heat. When ready to serve, add 50ml whisky, the Worcestershire sauce and mustard, and season to taste. Strain if you wish, then serve alongside the tart.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH HAGGIS. Haggis is traditionally served with tatties and neeps. For the non-Scots amongst us, "tatties" are mashed potatoes and "neeps" are mashed swede. To make things more confusing, swedes are known by many other names depending on where you are from.
While it is eaten all year round, haggis is particularly associated with Burns Night, when it is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: swede, yellow turnip or rutabaga and potatoes, boiled and mashed separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky).
Our canned haggis is already cooked. Just heat and serve! It is very easy to heat on the stove in a pan or skillet, or in the microwave. For a traditional texture, just heat gently, stirring frequently.
Haggis is often served with mashed swede or turnips and potatoes (neeps and tatties), especially for a traditional Burns Night meal. But variations of haggis are commonly incorporated into the meals of Scots all year round, including burger patties and pizza toppings.
Legality. In 1971, it became illegal to import haggis into the US from the UK due to a ban on food containing sheep lung, which constitutes 10–15% of the traditional recipe. The ban encompasses all lungs, as fluids such as stomach acid and phlegm may enter the lung during slaughter.
Heart and lungs will provide some iron, zinc and selenium and the oats included in haggis will contribute to fibre intake. It's important not to over indulge in haggis as it tends to be high in fat and saturated fat as well as high in salt, so be mindful of the portion size.
Neeps are what Scots, Irish and a lot of Northern English people call turnips - ie the big orange veg. Others call those a swede. The wee white ones - whether you call those a turnip or not - are not part of a 'neeps and tatties' recipe.
What does haggis taste like? Haggis is like a crumbly sausage, with a coarse oaty texture and a warming peppery flavour. It's most commonly served with neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (mashed potato) and washed down with a wee dram of your favourite whisky.
Simmer gently for 45 minutes per pound (100 minutes per kilo) but do not boil as this may burst the skin. If you would rather use an oven to cook your haggis; place your haggis, again wrapped in tin foil, into a casserole dish with a little water and heat at 190oC (gas mark 5) for approximately 1 hour until piping hot.
And as for the dubious habit of pouring neat whisky over haggis, we can only assume that has been a necessity when faced with extremely inferior haggis! Without sounding unpatriotic – we suggest that haggis should have a fling or two with a pint of beer.
Remove haggis at the end of cooking time. Probe centre with a meat thermometer to ensure it has reached 74°c, remove from foil, drain excess water, and serve with your whisky sauce, and clapshot or mashed tatties.
Haggis has a terrible reputation which it really doesn't deserve. It actually tastes good but is definitely a flavour and texture to get used to. It's a bit like crumbly sausage, and surprisingly peppery. The oats in the mix give it a pleasant earthiness as well as making it a very hearty meal.
So all you have to do is heat it up until it's pipping hot. Wrapping it in foil first helps to contain the contents if you are unlucky enough to burst it. Don't cook it at too high a temperature. Haggis prefer a wet, steamy heat to a dry one, so if you have a double pan steamer or steam oven, use that.
It's most commonly served with neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (mashed potato) and washed down with a wee dram of your favourite whisky. Haggis is a versatile ingredient – it can be used to make a stuffing for poultry and game, or fried up for breakfast like crumbled black pudding.
haggis, the national dish of Scotland, a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled.
Haggis is then served either as the main course or an intermediate course. The haggis is accompanied by champit tatties (mashed potato) and neeps (mashed turnip).
Main course. A cooked haggis Haggis, neeps and tatties on a plate. At the end of the poem, a whisky toast will be proposed to the haggis, and the company will sit down to the meal.
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Prep time: 45 mins
