Vegetarian Haggis

Ingredients

1 cup french lentils prepared this way (Link to Out of the Ordinary French Lentils)

1 cup roasted mushrooms (flavored with plenty of sage, thyme and rosemary) (Link to Out of the Ordinary Roasted Mushrooms)

1 cup rolled oats, toasted till fragrant and lightly brown

1 cup mixed nuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup kidney beans

1 cup grated sharp cheddar

about 4 T butter, cut into pieces

1 T whisky (I used laphroaig, which has a lovely smokey flavor)

1 T lemon juice

1/2 t. smoked paprika

pinch each nutmeg and allspice

salt

lots and lots and lots and lots of black pepper

6 or 7 very large chard leaves

Preparation

Combine everything but the chard leaves in a large bowl and stir to mix well. Leave out about 1 T worth of butter pieces.

In a large pot of salted water, boil the chard leaves for a couple of minutes, until they’re wilted, but still bright. Drain them, and leave to cool for a moment. They don’t need to be completely dry.

Butter a medium-sized bowl or dish. Line the bowl with the chard leaves – starting in the center and moving around like the petals of a flower. Make sure the leaves overlap one another. Their tips should hang over the outside of the bowl.

Press the filling into the leave-lined bowl, and then fold the tips of the chard leaves over. Overlap them again, until you have a smooth, coherent surface of chard leaves. Dot the surface with the remaining tablespoonful of butter.

Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes, till it’s hot through.