Haggis with creamed tomato and whisky sauce

“Let me set the record straight, haggis is not an animal! It is a traditional Scottish sausage made from a sheep’s stomach stuffed with diced sheep’s liver, lungs and heart, along with oatmeal, onion, suet and seasoning. These days, they usually add lamb meat and beef mince. It mightn't sound overly appealing, but this dish is actually very tasty. You can also buy vegetarian haggis, which is based on beans. Most haggis is par-cooked before being sold and needs to be simmered in boiling water for one to two hours prior to eating.” Luke Nguyen, Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom

• serves

  2

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped button mushrooms
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• 30 ml Drambuie whisky
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 125 ml (½ cup) pouring cream
• ½ cup hot mashed potato
• ½ cup hot mashed turnip
• ½ cup hot cooked peeled and crumbled haggis
• parsley, to garnish

Instructions

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir for 2 minutes or until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook for another minute, then add the tomato and cook for another 2 minutes or until soft. Add the whisky, then gently tilt the pan toward the flame until the alcohol ignites. When the flames have subsided, stir in the cream. Reduce the heat to low, season to taste and simmer for 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Place an 8 cm deep x 10 cm round stainless steel ring onto a serving plate. Spoon half the mashed potato into the mould and press it down tightly, then repeat with half the mashed turnip, then half the haggis. You should have 3 nice layers. Remove the mould from the plate, then repeat on a second plate with the remaining mash and haggis. Divide the sauce between the plates, scatter with parsley and serve immediately.   

This recipe comes from Arcade Bar, a whisky and haggis house in Edinburgh. 

Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom starts Thursday 14 May 2015 at 8pm on SBS ONE and finishes 2 July 2015. Visit the Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom website to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes or find out more about the show.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.