Pea Shoot, Lanark White & Black Pudding Salad by Carina Contini of Cannonball Restaurant in Edinburgh

Brought up in a Scots-Italian family on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Carina Contini is extremely passionate about food. Opening her first restaurant in 1996 through her husband Victor’s family delicatessen, the couple now have 3 restaurants in Edinburgh.

Haggis and black pudding are two ingredients that visitors to Scotland are always wary to taste. Blood and oats and offal. There are two many excellent artisan producers to mention who have developed  traditional recipes and who can claim, with many awards to back them up, that our national haggis and black puddings are world-class.

This salad uses black pudding  cut into little squares and fried. That way you get more of the crispy texture and less of the soft, crumbly middle. It works for this recipe but if you prefer to see the black pudding in all its circular glory, you can make it the centrepiece on a plat with all the other ingredients scattered around adoringly.

Ingredients: Serves 2

2 slices of black pudding, about 1cm thick

extra virgin olive oil, for frying

50g pea shoots, tough stalks removed

100g Lanark White or White Stilton

wedges of lime, to garnish

For the dressing:

1 sprig of wild garlic

salt

50g coriander leaves, finely chopped

3-4tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil

3 tbsp apple vinegar

1 small red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped

1 tsp coriander seeds

Method:

1.    Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4.

2.    Chop the black pudding into small cubes and fry in a little olive oil until crispy. It will crumble but this doesn't matter. Place on a baking tray and dry in the preheated oven until the rest of the dish is ready.

3.    Meanwhile, make the dressing. Cream the garlic and salt to taste together in apostle and mortar. Fold in the coriander leaves and 3 tbsp oil, then add the vinegar to make the mixture into a loose paste. Fold in the chilli and coriander seeds and add enough extra oil to make the dressing liquid. Set aside.

4.    Scatter the peas shoots in the middle of a large shallow bowl and crumble the Lanark White on top. Add the fried black pudding, then drizzle with the dressing. Serve with wedges of lime.

In association with Taste Communications.

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