Haggis Tortellini has been a starter on the menu at The Kailyard Restaurant at Dunblane Hydro for about six months, which is a long time in restaurant terms.
It’s been one of our best-selling dishes for months and today I’m sharing the recipe with you.
The secret to its success is making a chicken mousse which you fold the haggis through, giving it a nice texture, while the Drambuie gives a nice sweet and sour flavour.
Instead of using pasta try making this dish with wonton wrappers which are readily available from Asian stores and selected supermarkets.
The festive season extends well into January these days so lots of people will still be having dinner parties.
Today’s pudding, Whisky Chocolate Pot with Butterscotch Crunch, would not only be good for an alternative Burns supper, but is great for dinner parties as it can be made in advance and kept in the fridge until ready.
If you have a large number of guests, consider serving in little espresso cups as these don’t take up much room in the fridge, or for a quirky alternative, try serving in a small glass tealight candle holder. It will look great, especially with the butterscotch crunch – also known as puff candy in Scotland – on top.
The pud requires a wee slug of whisky and while it works with any whisky, if you do like a malt or peaty flavour, then this is a good time to use it as you can really taste the whisky.
But don’t overdo it, or you won’t taste the chocolate at all, and it may not set properly – just a wee dash will do. You can also add whisky into a cream topping if you like.
HAGGIS TORTELLINI WITH ROASTED BEETROOT, TROMPETTE MUSHROOMS AND WHISKY VINAIGRETTE
- SERVES 4
- FOR THE PASTA
- 200g plain white flour
- 1 whole egg
- 3 egg yolks
- FOR THE FILLING
- 150g trimmed chicken breast
- Half a haggis
- Half an egg white
- 30g butter
- 200ml double cream
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- TO SERVE
- Beetroot wedges
- Trompette mushrooms
- Butter
- Honey
- Sorrel leaves
- FOR THE DRESSING
- 50ml olive oil
- 20ml red wine vinegar (we use Forum)
- 1tblsp Drambuie
- 1tsp mustard
For the pasta, place the flour in a food processor and start giving it a whiz round. Add one of the eggs and keep whizzing until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the remaining egg and mix again. If the mixture starts to go doughy, stop the machine and add a tablespoon of flour. Keep repeating this process until the mixture resembles cous cous. This should take 2-3 minutes. Take a small piece of the mix and rub between your finger and thumb. If it is sticky or tacky you still need to add a little flour.
Tip out the dough and form into a ball shape. Knead it briskly for 1 minute. Wrap in cling film and rest for 20-30 minutes before using.
For the filling of the tortellini you make a mousse. Dice the chicken and puree in a food processor. Then add the egg white and a good pinch of salt. Using the pulse control on the machine until you have a smooth mix. Then add the double cream in 4 or 5 batches. Mix carefully until the mixture is smooth and then season with more salt if needed and mill pepper.
If the mousse is over beaten in the machine, the cream will turn to butter and be ruined. Transfer the mousse to a bowl and fold in the haggis and season if necessary. Refrigerate the mousse to firm it but use within the same day.
Unwrap and roll out the pasta dough to the thinnest setting in a pasta machine and cut out 20, 9cm circles (freeze any unused dough).
Place a tablespoonful of filling, about the size of a large marble, in the centre of each piece of pasta, lightly moisten the edge of the pasta with water and fold over the disc edge to edge pinching the edges together in the centre. You should now have a half moon shape in front of you. Gently seal the edges together working from the middle outwards working out any air as you go.
Now for the trick – using your little finger wrap the half moon over your finger like a ring joining the two ends of the flat side together, a little water will help fix the two sides in place.
Place the tortellini sitting upwards on a tray sprinkled with semolina to avoid sticking. Place a pan of salted water on to boil ready to cook the pasta. Add the tortellini to the boiling salted water to cook for 3-4 minutes. When cooked, drain carefully. As the pasta is cooking, heat the sauce, and check the seasoning.
For the dressing, mix all the ingredients together well. For the beetroot, roast wrapped in foil, then when cooked and cooled, peel, and cut into wedges. Reheat these in a frying pan with melted butter and honey. Lightly fry the trompette in butter, season and serve with the tortellini with dressing drizzled over. Garnish with sorrel leaves (or watercress).
CHOCOLATE POTS WITH BUTTERSCOTCH AND WHISKY
- SERVES 6
- 125g dark chocolate
- 120ml double cream
- 120ml full cream milk
- Dash Scotch whisky
- 1 egg
- 6 ramekins
- FOR THE BUTTERSCOTCH
- 200g caster sugar
- 75g Golden syrup
- 2tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Greaseproof paper
- OPTIONAL CREAM TOPPING
- 200ml double cream
- 2tbsp Scotch whisky
- Dark chocolate shavings
Put the milk and the cream into a large pan and put over a medium heat, top gently come to the boil.
Meanwhile break up the chocolate into small pieces; you can grate it but I prefer to chop it finely with a knife. Put the chocolate into a liquidiser and once the milk and cream has just come to the boil add it to the chocolate. Leave to stand for one minute.
Put the lid on the liquidiser, remove the centre and cover the hole with a clean tea towel and whiz the chocolate and the hot creamy milk together.
The temperature of the milk melts the chocolate in about 30 seconds. Add a dash of whisky and mix again briefly – not too much or it won’t set.
After the 30 seconds crack the egg and add it to the liquidiser and whizz again for about 45 seconds.
Divide the mix between six pots and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours to set. I like to finish the pots by whipping double cream with whisky til it’s just thickened – not stiff – and then pouring it over the surface of the chocolate. Then I top it with chocolate shavings. You could also use Baileys to top them with, if you like.
For the honeycomb, line a 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper. Mix the caster sugar and syrup in a deep saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has melted.
Once completely melted, turn up the heat a little and simmer until you have an amber coloured caramel (this won’t take long), then as quickly as you can turn off the heat, tip in the bicarbonate and beat in with a wooden spoon until it has all disappeared and the mixture is foaming.
Scrape into the tin immediately but be careful as the mixture will be very hot. It will continue bubbling in the tin. Leave it for an hour until the honeycomb is hard enough to snap into chunks.