For some reason, which I never understood, it was a semi-tradition with my parents to have haggis at New Year. And it is something which Noreen and I have mostly continued.

Why is it that so many people dislike haggis? I wonder how many have actually tried it! Yeah, OK, it is made with sheep’s offal, and many are squeamish about eating offal. For me it is tasty, peppery, and good, filling food; there’s nothing to dislike. I won’t say it is a staple in our house, but it’s something we eat several times a year, and there’s always on on stand-by in the freezer. And you don’t have to eat it with the traditional bashed neeps (swede) and mashed potato. Why not try it as the filling in a “Shepherd’s Pie”?

Anyway this New Year I decided to try something different.

Peppers with a Haggis Stuffing

You will want …

• medium or large bell peppers, at least one per person (I used four)
• a 500gm haggis
• a packet of stuffing mix
• 2 “banana” shallots or a medium onion
• as much garlic as you wish
• 2 soft tomatoes
• (optional) some flavouring, like 1-2tbsp HP sauce, or a good slug of Worcester Sauce, or a double whiskey
• olive oil and/or butter
• freshly ground black pepper

This is what I did …

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C.
2. Finely chop the onion, garlic and tomatoes and sweat them in a little olive oil and/or butter until translucent and getting sticky.
3. Meanwhile halve the peppers (I find they cook better halved); remove the stalks, seeds and pith. Set aside.
4. Put the stuffing mix in a large mixing bowl and rehydrate with hot water according to the packet instructions.
5. Remove the skin and chop the haggis into smallish pieces. Add to the stuffing mix and work together well, breaking down the haggis further.
6. Add the onion & tomato mix, flavouring and some ground black pepper (to taste). Mix well.
7. Fill the pepper halves with the haggis stuffing and put on one side.
8. Grease an oven-proof roasting dish, and if there’s any haggis stuffing left over (there probably will be) put it in the dish and sit the stuffed pepper halves on top.
9. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about an hour. Remove the foil for the last 15-20 minutes to lightly crisp the stuffing.
10. Serve accompanied by an alcoholic drink of your choice (beer or whiskey work well) and optionally some green vegetables.

Any leftovers will make a nice cold snack lunch (or even sandwiches).

This was tasty and tangy but not overpoweringly haggis-y – I reckon you could serve it to many people and they’d not know they were eating haggis.