Lancashire Hotpot

Try our delicious lamb hotpot winter warmer

This recipe is one of our favourites – and even better with that crispy potato topping

Ingredients

900g/2lb of frozen diced lamb shoulder
a handful of diced frozen onions
half a bag of frozen carrots
1 pint of brown stock (lamb)
2oz butter
900g/2lb of frozen potatoes
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme

Method

Defrost the lamb shoulder over night in your fridge (click here for details of how to safely defrost your frozen food). Once thawed cut the diced lamb ensuring slices are about 5mm/ ¼ inch thick. Chop the potatoes into thick slices and butter a casserole dish and line it with some of the potato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and thyme. Next layer the lamb pieces, diced onions and carrots on top of the potatoes.

Finish with a neat layer of potatoes overlapping each other. Next pour in enough stock to cover up to the top layer of potatoes. Brush the top with plenty of melted butter, salt and pepper.

Cooking

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cover the casserole dish and bake in the oven for about two hours. Remove the lid and continue to cook for a farther 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are brown and crisp and the meat is completely tender. Remember: Any frozen produce you don’t use you can pop back in the freezer.

Cheat: If you don’t have time to make one from scratch buy a frozen ready meal hotpot, take out of the packaging and put into a casserole dish, add some frozen diced potatoes and seasoning on top – put in the oven and claim as your own! Frozen ready meals can save you time and money and nobody will know but you!