Vegetarian Haggis Recipe
When I tweeted the meat version haggis recipe, I was asked on twitter whether I had a recipe for a vegetarian haggis. I did not and said that I would develop one. I’ve now done this and it’s below. Modesty isn’t going to prevent me tooting my own horn: I think it’s really good. I blind tested it on my 16 year old son, who wolfed down a big portion eagerly before asking “Ok, what is it? It’s lovely!”
While researching ideas I checked online. Most of the recipes appear to be the same or similar to the Vegetarian Society recipe. To be honest, I wasn’t very impressed. It reminded me of the plethora of 70s & 80s standard ‘veggy’ recipes that tried to mimic meat meals and that all seemed to taste & feel the same. When I started cooking veggy in the 80s I got tired of seeing and tasting under-flavoured, under-seasoned ‘veg-mush’.
My blogging friend Monica Shaw tasted one the leading brands of commercial vegetarian Haggis, McSweens and blogged about it on the Great British Chefs site. And it started a bit of a debate on Facebook about whether such stuff could legitimately be called ‘haggis’. I have strong feelings about this sort of “authenticism”. To avoid boring the folk just here for the recipe, I’ll return to this in another post later this month.
Some of the comments in the GBC Facebook discussion also commented on ‘veg-mush’ state of veggy haggis offerings. I tried hard to match the texture/feel of the meat version in the veggy version. The choice of the grain and pulses and their cooking is important to get this right. Most of the veggy recipes I’ve seen online don’t get this. In addition the oats and nuts are roasted for added flavour. The nuts are only coarsely chopped for the texture they give.
Apart from the olive oil, there’s no added fat, unlike some of the commercial versions. I don’t think there’s a mouthfeel need for the fat, so I didn’t add any veg suet although I’d bought some in case.
This makes a fair old quantity – about 2.7kg. I did this because there’s a deal of prep and the haggis will freeze well, so I’ll have some ‘free’ meals to hand. It’s probably not worth making much less than half the recipe.
Another bonus of this recipe is that it is very economical indeed to make. The total cost of the 2.7kg is about £6 which means a 150g portion comes out at £0.33.
If you’d like to know how to make this delicious dish, please read on…
Vegetarian Haggis Recipe
Ingredients
150g pearl barley
250g aduki beans, soaked overnight in plenty of water
200g spilt yellow peas or chana dhal, soaked overnight in plenty of water
250g pinhead oats
100g mixed nuts (I used hazelnuts and pecans) (You need to use nuts that take well to roasting)
4 tbsps olive oil
4 bay leaves
2 onions
2 medium carrots
2 sticks celery
4 cloves garlic
3 sprigs rosemary
250g chestnut mushrooms
2 heaped tsps ground allspice
1-2 heaped tsps ground white pepper (to taste, but it needs to be tasteable)
1/2 whole nutmeg, finely grated
Sea salt to taste
750ml good quality veg stock
2 lemons, juiced
Method
Toast the oats and nuts in a hot oven (180°C) for 25 minutes. Or you can roast the oats and nuts in individual batches, but more quickly, in a dry frying pan (keep stirring so they do not burn). Chop or process the nuts into fine dice (not a powder). Set the oats and nuts to one side.
Cook the pearl barley in boiling water until tender but with some bite left. This is important for the texture of the finished dish. You can pressure cook it for 20 mins or cook according to packet instructions for about an hour. Test frequently so that you do not over cook the barley. Drain and put to one side.
While this is cooking cook the well soaked pulses together in a saucepan. Don’t try to cook these unless they’ve been properly soaked overnight. Cook in just enough water to cover and top up as necessary. Don’t add any salt or acid or you will toughen them. Drain and put to one side.
Finely chop (or food process to fine dice) the vegetables and rosemary. Heat the olive oil in a wide based pan to a medium heat and add the bay leaves. Stir for a minute or so. Then add the vegetables (not the mushrooms) and the chopped rosemary. Sauté over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then cover and turn down to low and sauté for 15 minutes. You want the vegetables to sweat but not to colour.
Add the mushrooms and stir well. Re-cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes or so.
Add the spices to the vegetables and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Add the pearl barley and pulses and stir well to incorporate. Taste and season with salt if required. Add enough vegetable stock to create a slightly sloppy consistency. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes for the flavours to amalgamate.
Add the oats and nuts to the mix and stir well. Add more stock which will get absorbed by the oats. Simmer the mix for 30 minutes over a very low heat, stirring frequently so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. You may need to add a little more stock or water depending on how good a seal your pan lid makes.
You should end up with a fairly dense but not solid mix at the end of this time. Check the seasoning and add what you need along with the lemon juice.
Eat in your favourite way.
We had this first with a baked potato and some steamed flower sprouts. The next day I took some, added a tin of tomatoes and peas and made it into a pasta sauce to have with penne. I’m also thinking of using as a filling for pasties.
I’d love to know how you get on if you make this. Do let me know what you think in the comments.
Print PDF - Print or share:
12 Responses to “Vegetarian Haggis Recipe”
A friend served veggie haggis last year and I thought it was awful. The texture was like someone ate it before I got there and decided not to keep it.
Yours looks brilliant and I’m going to try it. I don’t know if 2.7 kilos is the right amount for just the two of us but I’ll improvise.
Hi Maureen
That experience sounds truly awful
I do hope my recipe will prove better. 2.7kg will be far too much. It’s a very filling meal. If I were you, I would halve all the ingredients and then freeze what I didn’t use or give as a gift.
Let me know how it goes. The trick is in making sure that you cook the barley and pulses so they still have texture.
Good luck
I must try this it looks great. But what are pinhead oats?
Hi Margaret
Here’s a link to explain what Pinhead oats are and the place I buy a lot of my dried goods. Many supermarkets sell them too.
I do hope you have a go, let me know what you think if you do
Hi Carl, I made your vegetarian haggis last night – it was a win! Two key things here that did it for me: (1) the texture was just fantastic; I loved the adzuki beans and the pinhead oats were essential, (2) the strong flavours, particularly the nutmeg and white pepper, were wonderful and worked really well with the other ingredients. But as you note in your final paragraph, enjoying this dish depends largely what you serve it with. I had mine with a side of savoy cabbage, but I think I will enjoy it far as a stuffing for red romano peppers, mushrooms or cabbage rolls (really looking forward to trying that!). In that sense, I’m thrilled to have lots of leftovers because it’s a dish from which you can make many other dishes!
A couple points: the flavour of the mushrooms didn’t really come through for me. Should it have? I might like a bit more. I also think more nuts wouldn’t go a miss. I’m going to see how that works with some stuffed red pepper topped with a sprinkle of… maybe pine nuts?
Also, I halved the recipe and this produced almost exactly 1.35kg of veggie haggis just as you said! Which reminds me, I wanted to tell you how excellent your instructions are. They are somehow succinct but detailed enough to resolve any questions I had along the way and very VERY easy to follow. Although this was an involved recipe, the process of bringing it all together was very easy thanks to your clear instructions. Thank you!
Hi Monica
I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review and for your kind compliments.
I think all the haggis recipes really lend themselves to being used in other dishes. They are great savoury ‘stuffings & fillings’.
The mushrooms were there to give a background ‘meatiness’ and for the colour. I think they could easily be increased as could the nuts. The thing to watch with the mushrooms is the liquid they will introduce and the opposite for the nuts. It’s a joy to play with recipes once you know you have somthing that works. I’ll certainly be seeing what I can change and would love to hear about your amendments.
Happy cooking, thanks again for this
[...] made this salad for my lunch today. I was reminded yesterday reading Carl’s post on his vegetarian haggis how good aduki beans are, they’re the puy lentil of the bean world for me. They’re [...]
[...] I turned to the advice of trusted friend and foodie Carl Legge, who was gracious enough to share his tried and tested vegetarian haggis recipe. The recipe called [...]
I made this last night and it was really delicious. One of our friends has nut allergies so I tried tahini and bread crumbs instead of nuts and it worked pretty well. I will certainly be using this recipe again next year. It’s by far the best I’ve tried. We fed six and there is still loads left over which I think will be turned into shepherds’ pie. Thanks Carl!
Hi Clare
That’s brilliant feedback, thank you so much I really appreciate it
Using the tahini & breadcrumbs is a great piece of improvisation, sounds really good.
I think that it’s a very versatile dish that should not be limited to the 25th January. The ‘shepherd’s pie’ is an ace way of using. Perhaps the neeps and tatties could be the mash on top
Thanks for popping by
This was lovely! I spent all afternoon making it but it was worth it. Couldn’t get any pinhead oatmeal so used a tablespoon of rolled oats and 300 grams quinoa which I added to the mixture at the same time as the roasted nuts. I found it needed more stock. I served it as a “shepherds pie” topped with layers of mashed swede and mashed potato, the whole thing warmed up in a bain marie in the oven before serving. A separate gravy was nice or you could make a Drambuie sauce.
I have frozen lots of batches of it and will use it to make stuffed cabbage rolls etc.
Many thanks.
Caroline
Caroline
Thanks so much for the feedback, it’s really great you enjoyed it. Quinoa a good idea for a substitute, I suggested bulghur wheat or cous-cous to someone else if they were having difficulty getting hold of the oats.
I love the idea of stuffed cabbage rolls and have got some cabbage today to do just that.
Thanks for letting me know