Burns Night is celebrated on January 25 every year to mark the birthday of Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland.
Many festivities are observed to celebrate this important date in Scottish culture, including dining on traditional national cuisine – haggis, neeps and tatties.
The dish known as “neeps and tatties” isn’t too far-fetched from British foods, made from a mixture of turnips and potatoes.
It’s so easy to make from scratch, and Jamie Oliver has the perfect recipe to complement a serving of, oaty, meaty haggis.
Sharing his Burns Night recipe on his website, the chef revealed his simple four-step approach to replicating the Scottish dish.
Method
Boiling the potatoes and turnips is essential to ensure there are no lumps when it comes to mashing them, but first, they need to be peeled and chopped.
Quartering each one should be enough, after which it’s a good time to cook the haggis that will be served alongside the neeps and tatties.
Place the haggis in a large pan of boiling water and follow the packaging instructions to cook it.
Next, fill two large saucepans with boiling water and a sprinkle of salt, then separate the potatoes into one and turnip chunks into the other.
Cook both for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender, then drain them separately to keep the bold colours of both intact.
Cover the vegetables to keep them warm for now, then move onto the spring onions if using. Trim and roughly chop them up, meanwhile, melt the butter in the pan used for the potatoes.
Add the onions and cook for two minutes, or until softened, then return the potatoes to the same pan and mash together with the cream until “quite smooth”.
Jamie suggested adding plenty of seasoning at this point, then covering them to keep them warm until it’s time to dish everything up.
Remove the cooked haggis from the pan, cut it open and portion onto warm plates. Divide the neeps and tatties up then serve straight away.
