Reestit mutton soup
This recipe is extracted from For the Love of the Land
This recipe is extracted from For the Love of the Land by Jenny Jeffries Jenny Jefferies' For the Love of the Land: A Cookbook to Celebrate British Farmers and their Food, has been shortlisted for Cookbook of the Year at the Great British Food Awards, going up against the likes of Mary Berry, Jamie Oliver, James Martin, and Pinch of Nom.
Among other Scottish recipes, the book features this traditional dish, extracted below, from sisters, Kirsty and Aimee Budge, who run Bigton Farm in Shetland, where they raise various breeds of sheep and grow barley. The name reestit comes from the Scots word reest, which means to cure by drying or smoking (traditionally over a peat fire). It’s traditionally a winter dish, but just as nice on unseasonably chilly days.
Jeffries has followed up the success of her last book with the new For the Love of the Sea, £22, Meze Publishing, which features 40 recipes and stories from producers, with 22 per cent of the profits going to the RNLI, out now. www.mezepublishing. co.uk
Bigton Farm Reestit Mutton Soup
“Reestit mutton is a traditional recipe from Shetland. Mutton leg or shoulder is left in a salt pickle for about two weeks, then dried for about a month, traditionally on a pulley in the kitchen. This soup is a great winter warmer, after a morning on the croft in gale force winds and lashing rain” – Aimee Budge
Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 2 hours Serves: 6
500g reestit mutton
6 tatties (potatoes)
1 small turnip
4 carrots
1 leek
1 Boil the reestit mutton for 1 hour in a large pot, pouring off the water and adding freshly boiled water throughout the cooking time.
2 While this boils, peel and cut up the potatoes, turnip, carrots and leek. After the first hour, add all the vegetables to the pot with the mutton and boil for another hour, stirring occasionally to stop it sticking to the bottom of pot. Add extra boiled water if the liquid gets too thick.
3 Take the reestit mutton out of the pot and transfer it onto a plate. Cut the meat into chunks, ladle the soup into bowls and then serve with a generous helping of reestit mutton on top of each portion.