Skirlie

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This traditional Scottish skirlie recipe from Graeme Taylor makes a perfect alternative to stuffing on Christmas Day, or makes a great side for a St. Andrew's Day feast. It can even be stirred through mashed potato to give it an added nutty crunch.

First published in 2015
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Skirlie is one of those wonderful Scottish words that’s just so descriptive. My first introduction to it was when Dad would make it for me on Christmas Day as an alternative to stuffing. It is perfect for this purpose, as well as being good for stirring through mash. The pinhead oatmeal used here can be replaced with medium oatmeal to speed up the cooking time, but I prefer the nutty, toasty bite of the pinhead. You can also just use butter rather than the half butter and half dripping combination, but I think it gives the skirlie a better structure and is a nice authentic throwback flavour. Make sure you add a good grinding of black pepper at the end to really bring it to life.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Skirlie

Method

1
Place a heavy based frying-pan (or sauté pan) over a medium heat and soften the onions in the dripping. You don’t want to brown them, although a little golden colour is fine.
2
Add in the oatmeal and stir to thoroughly coat with the onions. Add a large pinch of sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper and stir for a couple of minutes. Then turn the heat down as low as it’ll go.
3
Keep cooking for around 20-25 minutes (around 10-15 minutes for medium oatmeal). Stir regularly until the oatmeal has softened to give a toasty bite when tasted. Correct the seasoning if necessary and serve.
First published in 2015
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Graeme is fuelled by an intense passion for the rich and varied food and drink landscape of Scotland.

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