Sunday, January 18, 2015

Lancashire Hotpot - made with love and a perfect winter dish

I love Lancashire hotpot and as a born and bred Lancastrian so I should, its the perfect frugal comfort food which will happily blip away in the oven whilst you get on with other things. Requiring minimal effort you can still deliver a wow dish for your supper (or in a Northerner case tea) table.


I decided recently to experiment with different ways of cooking the dish and in my opinion this is the best method so far, ideal served with a green vegetable or just the traditional accompaniments of pickled beetroot or red cabbage.

What you need
  • Diced lamb pieces (ask your butcher whats the best and cheapest)
  • 3 large white potatoes 
  • 1 large white onion - peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3 carrots - peeled and chopped
  • Lamb stock ( I use essential cuisine - the best in my humble opinion)
  • Splash of Worcestershire sauce (use gluten free brown sauce if necessary)
  • Cornflour
  • Thyme and rosemary - finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • A little rapeseed oil
What you do
  • Pre heat the oven to 160c
  • Heat the oil in cast iron casserole dish
  • Fry off the lamb pieces in batches until lightly caramelised
  • Remove from pan to plate
  • Fry in the same pan the onion and carrot until slightly golden, add the lamb back to the pan and add a tablespoon or so of cornflour.
  • Stir and add the herbs and sauce, remove from the heat
  • Stir again and top the vegetable and lamb mixture with potato slices
  • Pour enough lamb stock to just be visible on the top of the potato topping, put lid on casserole dish and place in oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes
  • Once the time has passed the vegetables with be tender and the meat cooked, remove the lid and place back in the oven for another 15 -30 minutes until the top is golden and slightly crispy.
  • Serve immediately with a green vegetable (cabbage / kale is nice) and traditional hotpot accompaniments


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