Read on for my recipe for Haggis Spaghetti
Exactly a month after Christmas when the rest of the world has forgotten about feasting for another year, we in Scotland have our own celebratory feast of Burns Night where we celebrate the birth of our famous poet Robert Burns by having Burns Suppers where his songs and poems are enjoyed and haggis is the star of the show when it comes to the dinner table.
A Burns Supper
* Guests are piped into the room by a piper. Traditionally it was only men who attended a Burns Supper but now ladies are welcomed too, yeah to equality!
* The Selkirk Grace is read out;
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae let the Lord be thankit.
* The piper will announce the arrival of the haggis with a tune on his bagpipes.
* Address to the haggis – This is a special poem written by Robert Burns to show just how much he loved this most traditional of Scottish dishes.
* Toast to the haggis – Everyone will raise their glasses and praise the haggis before a knife is plunged into it and it is then eaten.
* After the meal many of Burns songs will be sung and his poems read out. These include such favourites as Tam O’Shanter, My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose and Ae Fond Kiss. You’ll find other Burns songs and poems here.
Burns Supper Menu
The menu for a Burns Supper is very traditional with Cock-a-leekie soup as the starter (here is my recipe for cock a leekie soup). Clootie dumpling, (a fruit pudding rather like Christmas pudding) for dessert. And of course the all-important haggis as the main course between those.
Haggis, star of the show
Haggis is a pudding made from sheep’s pluck (the heart, liver and lungs) which are well minced along with onions, oatmeal, suet, spices, seasoning and stock. This pudding mixture is traditionally pressed into a bag made from the lining of a sheep’s stomach. Nowadays you can buy haggis in plastic casing and even vegetarian haggis as well.
Haggis is served with mashed neeps (turnip) and tatties (potatoes) and a dash of whisky poured over the haggis as a sauce.
Whisky is of course the drink of choice for the evening.
I love haggis!
Not everyone will be attending a Burns Supper on the 25th, but you can have a super haggis supper at home. Why stick with tradition? Try something different like this haggis spaghetti instead of the usual haggis, neeps and tatties.
Haggis gets a bad press. No wonder when you think of some of the nasty soupy stuff that is often served up. This was true for me. Back in my school days we had haggis every Monday and it was revolting. It took me years to be able to look at haggis with anything other than hatred. Now I can safely say I love haggis. The peppery spiciness of a good haggis is fabulous.
Fusion Food
Mix and match the food of different cultures to create your own magic. In this case Scottish and Italian. My Haggis spaghetti is an Italian inspired way of serving this most traditional of Scottish dishes.
Haggis Spaghetti
No, this isn’t just a case of chucking a haggis on top of spaghetti, there is just a wee bit more to it than that. Make a sauce out of the neeps (turnip/swede) that are usually served with haggis. Add in carrots, onion, garlic and tomatoes and of course the haggis.
Ways to cook haggis; Boil it in its casing as I have here. Remove casing, slice and cook in a frying pan rather like black pudding. Take out of casing and cook in an oven proof dish covered in foil. However you cook your haggis do not add water! That is how you end up with the dreaded grey soupy haggis. A heinous crime!
Ingredients;
- 1 small haggis
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 carrot peeled and diced
- 150g swede peeled and diced
- 10 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 tbsp Scotch whisky
- salt and pepper to taste
- basil leaves and Parmesan
- 200g spaghetti
Method;
- Cook the haggis in it’s skin in boiling water for the time shown on instructions
- Toss the diced carrot and swede into the boiling water for last 10 minutes then drain everything
- Meanwhile heat oil in a pan and saute the onion for 5 minutes then add the garlic for 1 minute
- Add the cooked swede and carrot and the cherry tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes
- Add the whisky and seasoning and stir to combine
- Plate the pasta and add the sauce and finish with grated Parmesan and torn basil leaves
This is a recipe for two people. I used a 200g haggis. If you want to make it for more then just double up the ingredients and size of haggis of course!
Here are some of my Burns Night recipes you might like to try. Just click on the image to go to the recipe itself;
Find lots more tasty goodies here in my Scottish recipes section.
Have a great Burns Night when it comes. Let me know if you try my Haggis Spaghetti.
Karon x
Haggis Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 1 small haggis
- 1 tbsp rape seed oil
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 carrot diced
- 150 g swede diced
- 10 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 tbsp Scotch whisky
- salt and black pepper to taste
- torn Basil leaves
- 200 g dried spaghetti
Instructions
- Put the haggis in a pan of water and bring to boil (follow cooking instructions for time)
- Heat the oil in another pan and saute onion for 5 minutes
- Add garlic and cook for a further 1 minute
- Add the carrots and swede to the haggis water and boil for 10 minutes before scooping out with a slotted spoon and adding to the onion pan
- Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes
- When haggis is cooked carefully remove from casing and add to the vegetable pan and stir well
- Add seasoning and whisky
- Cook spaghetti in a pan of boiling water till al dente, drain
- Serve the haggis spaghetti sauce over the spaghetti and sprinkle with torn basil leaves and Parmesan cheese
PIN ME FOR LATER
Looks delicious! I am so going to try this as I’ve had a haggis sample in my cupboard for a year and not known what to do with it. Just need to get some garlic and basil and we’re good to go:-)
Hi Camilla
Do hope you try this one. Haggis spaghetti is a great addition to the pasta repertoire!
All best
K