Haggis, Neeps and Tatties Pasties

This recipe has been enjoyed by vegans and omnis alike, I used vegetarian haggis for mine but a meat one would work equally well I would imagine. I made the filling from scratch but this would also be a brilliant way of using leftovers from Burn's Night. Great as a lunch by itself, this could also be paired with green veg as the main part of your evening meal. Most vegetarian haggis is vegan but it is always worth double checking the ingredients. The buttery shortcrust pastry perfectly complements the soft and flavoursome filling. I am aware that this differs from a classic pasty recipe but sometimes its fun to mix things up a little.

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
450g plain flour  - plus extra for dusting
200g butter
1 tsp salt
8 tbsp water  - you may not need all of it
For the filling:
1 standard sized haggis
1 large carrot
1 medium neep
2 baking potatoes
4 tsp onion gravy powder
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Take a large bowl and pop in the flour, salt and butter and rub together until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Carefully add the water a spoonful at a time to bring the mixture together into a dough. Stop adding water as soon as the dough comes together, it should be soft but slightly crumbly. Once the dough has come together, wrap it in clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

While the dough chills, cook the haggis according to the instructions on the packet. Chop the vegetables into bite sized cubes and boil gently until soft. Drain the vegetables then add the haggis in along eith a tbsp of butter and salt and pepper to taste. Fill a mug 3/4 with hot water then stir in the gravy granules to create a thick gravy then pour over the filling. Mix everything together, dont worry if the vegetables mash a little into the haggis. Add a little more salt and pepper if needed then place to the side to cool.

Once the filling has cooled, preheat your oven to 160 fan. Flour your work surface and two baking sheets. Grab the pastry out of the fridge and diving into 6 balls. Roll each ball out into an oval roughly 20cm by 15cm. Place 2- 3 tbsp of the filling onto half of each oval until there is around 1 cm pastry clear around the edge and a generous mound in the middle. Carefully fold over the remaining pastry and crimp the edges to seal. I folded the corners in then crimped round, meeting in the middle to prevent leakage. My crimping skills aren't the most aesthetically pleasing but it worked and tasted good so thats what matters!

Once all of the pasties have been made, place on the oven trays and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown all over. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes on a cooling rack before serving as these are incredibly hot to bite into.

When you make these, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!

Potato and Cauliflower Curry with Homemade Naan

I wasn't planning on writing a blog post for this curry and naan recipe yet but I had taken a couple of pictures to send to my brother to tease him as he LOVES a good curry and decided to post one on a Facebook group, almost as a joke. The response was overwhelming with requests so here is the recipe! Please excuse the poor photos, these weren't exactly planned. This went down a treat with my other half who usually does qualify anything as food unless it has meat in, to the point he's requested it for a potluck dinner with his friends. PS... yes, I was eating my dinner in bed!

Ingredients:
For the Curry:
1 large head of cauliflower
Roughly the same quantity of potatoes
1 bag fresh spinach
1 bag mange tout peas
1 can coconut milk
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tub cherry tomatoes
2 onions
5 tbsp mild tandoori curry powder
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tube lazy garlic (6 cloves)
1 tube lazy ginger (3 inch fresh)
1 tub lazy lemongrass (2 sticks fresh)
olive oil
salt and pepper
Boiling water
2 tbsp cornflour

For the Naan:
375g plain flour - plus flour for dusting
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
250ml warm water
1 tbsp maple syrup

olive oil

Method: 
For the curry: 
Grab your largest pan and place it over a medium heat, coating the base with olive oil. Roughly dice the onions and saute in the oil until translucent. Add in the cumin, coriander and curry powder. Chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces and pop into the pan. Add the coconut milk and tinned tomatoes along with a can full of hot water. Half the tomatoes and add these in along with the cauliflower, broken into bite sized florets. Add in the ginger, garlic and lemongrass and leave to simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

Chop the mange tout into bite sized pieces and add to the curry along with the spinach. Once these are lightly cooked, make up the cornflour according to the instructions on the packet and stir in to thicken the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste, I didn't feel it needed much.

If you can leave this overnight and reheat it, even better. The flavours mature overnight and give a depth which is delicious.

For the Naan:
Place the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl and mix together. In a jug, mix the water and maple syrup until the syrup has melted. Add to the flour mixture and bring together. Tip onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes until the dough is smooth and springy.

Place in an oiled bowl and leave at room temperature to prove for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into 6 pieces and roll each piece out to a rough oval around 1cm thick. Make sure to flour both your surface and rolling pin as the dough is quite sticky.

Place a frying pan over a high heat with a teaspoon of olive oil. Place one of the naans into the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until large bubbles appear on the top then flip over. The cooked side should be crispy with darker patches. Fry for a further couple of minutes to crisp the other side. Repeat until all the naan are cooked, I place them in a tea towel to keep warm before serving.

I served this curry with the naan and some basmati rice but have also had it on its own as a quick lunch, especially if there's some left over.

When you make this, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife

Enjoy!