Scotland's Black Pudding, Blood-Free

Black pudding, or marag dhubh in Gaelic, is one of the cornerstones of Scottish cooking. It appears on breakfast plates the length of the country, gets sliced into chip-shop batter, and turns up alongside scallops in some of our smarter kitchens. Traditional versions rely on pig's blood, oatmeal, suet and a generous hand with pepper — which is exactly where the vegetarian cook has to think carefully. The blood gives colour, a faint iron depth and much of the setting power. Take it away and you need something that behaves in a similar way.

Cooked beetroot and toasted oats do precisely that. The beetroot supplies the deep, dark colour and an earthy sweetness that sits comfortably against heavy seasoning; the oats give body, nuttiness and that coarse, crumbly bite that makes a good pudding a pleasure to eat. Make it once and you will wonder why you ever bought the pale supermarket imitations.

The Ingredients That Do the Work

This makes one generous roll, enough for about eight thick slices. Everything below is easy to find in a Scottish supermarket or a decent health food shop.

• 500g cooked beetroot — the vacuum-packed kind, not the vinegared pickled sort. Pat it dry and grate it coarsely on the large holes.
• 100g pinhead oats and 75g medium oatmeal — the pinhead gives chew, the meal gives binding.
• 100g vegetable suet, or chilled butter cut into small cubes.
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped and sweated until soft but not coloured.
• 1 tsp ground white pepper, 1 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper, ½ tsp ground allspice, ¼ tsp grated nutmeg, 1½ tsp fine salt.
• 1 tsp black treacle and 1 tsp yeast extract, for colour and savoury depth.
• 150ml vegetable stock, plus a little extra if the mixture looks dry.

Building the Mixture

Toast the oats first. Tip both the pinhead oats and the oatmeal into a dry frying pan over a medium heat and stir for four or five minutes, until they smell nutty and have taken on a shade of gold. This single step does more for the finished flavour than anything else in the recipe.

Sweat the onions in a knob of butter with a pinch of salt for ten minutes until soft and translucent. Leave them to cool slightly.

Combine everything. In a large bowl, mix the grated beetroot, toasted oats, onions, suet, treacle, yeast extract and all the spices. Pour over the stock and work it together with your hands or a sturdy wooden spoon. You are looking for a stiff, slightly sticky mixture that holds when squeezed — not a wet paste. Add another splash of stock only if it genuinely will not come together.

Resist the urge to blitz it. A smooth purée will give you a dense, sliceable slab rather than the crumbly, pebbly texture that defines a proper black pudding.

Rolling, Boiling and Setting

Traditionally the mixture goes into a beef casing. For a vegetarian version, a piece of clean muslin or a double layer of greaseproof paper works beautifully, or you can pack it into a small loaf tin lined with baking paper and covered tightly with foil.

Spoon the mixture onto your cloth and roll it into a firm, even cylinder, about 20cm long. Tie both ends tightly with string, leaving a little room for expansion, then tie a second knot to be safe. If using a tin, press the mixture down firmly and level the top.

Lower the roll into a large pan of barely simmering water — it must not boil hard, or the cloth will burst — and poach for 1 hour 45 minutes, topping up with hot water as needed to keep it submerged. A loaf tin can be baked instead: 160°C fan, sitting in a roasting tin of water, for about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Lift it out, cool for twenty minutes, then unwrap and re-roll tightly in cling film. Chill overnight with a light weight on top — a couple of tins will do. This resting period is what firms it up enough to slice cleanly.

Frying and Serving It Properly

Cut slices about 1.5cm thick. A cold, firm pudding slices best, so take it from the fridge and use a sharp knife in one clean stroke. Fry in a little oil or butter over a medium heat for three minutes a side, until the edges crisp and darken. A hot grill works well too, brushed lightly with oil.

• A full Scottish vegetarian breakfast: fried pudding, tattie scones, eggs, flat mushrooms, grilled tomato and a slice of toast.
• With clapshot: mash neeps and tatties together with butter, and serve the pudding on top with a mustard sauce.
• Cold: sliced thinly in a roll with brown sauce, or crumbled through a warm salad of lentils and rocket.
• Something smarter: fried apple wedges and a spoonful of wholegrain mustard turn it into a proper supper.

Getting the Peppery Punch Right

Pepper is the soul of this pudding, and it should be assertive enough to make you reach for your tea. Taste the raw mixture before you roll it — yes, before — and adjust boldly. If it tastes well seasoned raw, it will taste under-seasoned once boiled.

If your pudding crumbles too readily when sliced, you have been light on the oatmeal or heavy on the stock; next time add an extra 25g of medium oatmeal. If it turns out dense and rubbery, you have overworked it. And if the colour is more purple than black, a little more treacle will sort it. The roll keeps for five days in the fridge and freezes well in slices, so make two while the pan is out.