Reestit mutton and tattie soup

Servings: Approx. 20

Ingredients:

  • 2lb cut of Shetland reestit mutton
  • 3-4 litres water
  • 3 large onions
  • 6-8 medium carrots
  • 1/2 a medium neep (swede)
  • 8-10 medium floury potatoes (or mealy tatties as they are known here)

Instructions:

  1. Put your reestit mutton in a large deep pot and add enough water to cover it completely. Cover and bring to the boil over a medium heat and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for a good couple of hours, or until the meat is fork tender. Remove the pot from the heat and let the mutton cool in its stock.

  2. When cooled, remove the meat from the stock. Remove and discard any bigger chunks of fat and some of the fat which has accumulated on top of the stock, if there is a lot. If you have cooked the meat for long enough it will come away from the bone easily and you can either cut it with a knife or break it into pieces with your hands - set this aside in a covered dish. Don’t refrigerate it, just cover and set aside.

  3. Bring your stock back to the boil. The stock will be very salty, don’t worry about this, the vegetables will absorb some of the saltiness. If it really seems excessively salty at this stage, you can adjust to taste by adding a little extra water or plain lamb stock if you have it.

  4. Meanwhile, peel and chop your onions reasonably finely. Peel all the other vegetables and chop roughly into bitesized chunks. Add all the vegetables to your stock and bring back to the boil. Simmer over a medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

  5. Remove from the heat and use a potato masher to partially mash the vegetables, the result should be thick and creamy but still have chunky vegetable pieces.

  6. Serve your tattie soup piping hot with a batch of fluffy Shetland Bannocks fresh from the oven, cline (spread) them generously with Shetland Farm Dairies butter. You can either sprinkle a few chunks of reestit mutton into your soup or eat it atop your buttered bannocks - choose your camp!

Note: Both soup and cooked reestit mutton freeze well. Alternatively you can freeze the stock and make the soup in smaller batches as needed.