From a Burns brunch to tasty sausage rolls, some alternative ways to get creative with your haggis

You don’t just have to serve haggis with neeps and tatties as our national chef Gary Maclean has revealed with these three recipes.

As Burns Night, on Monday January 25, approaches, are you thinking about what to do to celebrate our National Bard?

Are you going to enjoy the traditional fare of haggis, neeps and tatties? Or are you thinking out of the box and pondering whether it may be the time to try something, still haggis-themed, but quite different?

Then Scotland’s national chef Gary Maclean can help.

Gary, who you can see showing off all his skills on the BBC Scotland programme Corner Shop Cook Off, has created three family-friendly recipes to help Scots celebrate Burns Night with a twist, all using Lidl’s haggis at just 99p.

From a Burns brunch to family-favourite sausage rolls, each recipe is easy to make and showcases the versatility of the inexpensive, humble haggis.

All of the recipes use raw, uncooked haggis.

Haggis and sweet potato sausage rolls

(Serves 6 – makes 3 large sausage rolls)

Sausage rolls are a family favourite. This simple recipe uses pre-made frozen pastry, all you have to do is remove it from the freezer the evening before and roll out on the day. A definite freezer staple!

Ingredients

• 340g frozen puff pastry
• 200g Lidl Donald & Sons haggis
• 3 Lidl Deluxe pork sausages
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 100g sweet potatoes, diced
• 1 egg yolk
• Cooking oil
• Tomato ketchup

Method

1. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer the night before and allow to defrost in the fridge.
2. On the day, peel and dice the sweet potato and finally chop the shallots.
3. In a pan add a little oil and bring to a medium heat, add the chopped shallots and the diced sweet potato and slowly cook. Once the shallots have gone translucent and the sweet potato is almost cooked remove from the heat.
4. Remove the sausage meat from their skins and pop into a bowl with the haggis, once the shallot and sweet potato mix has cooled add to the bowl also. Mix well.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-assisted).
6. Next break your egg and separate the yolk from the white and whisk.
7. Roll out your pastry thinly and cut into 3 x 10cm x 10cm strips.
8. Weigh out approximately 3 x 150g of your sausage mix and shape into a long cylinder and place lengthwise at along an edge of each section of pastry.
9. Brush the exposed part of the pastry with the egg yolk, next roll the pastry over the sausage meat and roll up, making sure you create a tight roll. Repeat for the other sheets of pastry.
10. Pop your sausage rolls onto a lightly oiled tray and pop in the fridge for 10 minutes.
11. Remove your tray from the fridge, brush your sausage rolls with the remaining egg yolk.
12. Using a sharp knife score the top of the sausage rolls.
13. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
14. Divide each sausage roll in two and serve with tomato ketchup.

Burns Brunch: Haggis with diced garlic potatoes and a poached egg

(Serves 4)

Haggis isn’t just for Burns supper, it’s also perfect for brunch. This recipe can be whipped up with minimal prep and will be a simple showstopper that the entire family will enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1 Lidl Donald & Sons haggis (454g)
• 400g x potatoes, diced (Maris Piper work perfectly)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp cooking oil
• 4 eggs
• 60ml white vinegar
• 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, shredded

Method

1. Dice the potatoes into roughly 1cm cubes and place the potato into a frying pan and fry until golden and crisp.
2. Next crumble in the haggis and cook until it starts to crisp up, then add the crushed garlic and cook out for a couple of minutes.
3. In the meantime it’s time to poach your eggs.
4. There are various methods, my advice is to keep it simple with soft boiling water and a touch of vinegar and put each egg into a ramekin to transfer into the water, this will help keep the eggs shape together.
5. Poach for 3-4 minutes for a perfect runny egg.
6. The last thing to add is the shredded flat parsley to the hash mix.
7. Split this mixture into four dishes and then pop a poached egg on top of each serving.

Haggis koftas with mint yoghurt

(Serves 4 – makes 2 koftas per serving)

Haggis is such a versatile ingredient and great value for money. Here we’re adding a Scottish twist to traditional koftas to create a simple recipe that can be served with salad and pitta bread for DIY kebabs.

Ingredients

• 1 Lidl Donald & Sons haggis (454g)
• 500g pork mince
• 2 onions, grated
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 egg
• 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, shredded
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water – this stops them burning
• 200g Greek yoghurt
• 1 x handful mint, shredded

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan assisted).
2. Grate the onions, crush the garlic and shred the handful of parsley.
3. Place the pork mince and haggis into a bowl along with the grated onions, garlic, chilli flakes, ground cumin, shredded parsley, egg, 1 tsp of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
4. Mix together well with your hands until the mixture has bound together.
5. Divide the mixture into eight and mould it each portion into long sausage shapes around the drained bamboo skewers.
6. Brush the kofta generously with oil and place onto a tray.
7. Cook for 10 minutes, turning them now and then, until browned all over and cooked through.
8. Meanwhile, mix your yoghurt with the shredded mint and a pinch of ground cumin and mix.
9. Serve with a side salad of your choice and pitta breads.

Read more from our national chef…

National Burger Day: Gary Maclean’s top tips for creating the perfect burger, plus his haggis sliders recipe

How we’ve fallen in love with food again in lockdown and the lessons we can learn around waste