Lancashire Hotpot

Ingredients

• 7 tbspbutter, or beef tallow; for browning and drizzling
• 2 lblamb, neck fillets or shoulder, cut into pieces
• 3lamb kidneys, halved and cored
• 2onions, medium, sliced
• 4carrots, sliced
• 3 tbspall-purpose flour, for thickening gravy
• 2 tspworcestershire sauce
• 2 cupschicken stock
• 2 leafbay leaves
• 2 lbpotatoes, peeled and thinly sliced for the topping

Method

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 325°F/275°F fan/gas 3. Melt some of the butter or beef tallow in a large shallow casserole and brown the lamb in batches, lifting each batch onto a plate.

2. 2

   Brown the halved kidneys in the same pan and add them to the plate.

3. 3

   Add a little more fat and fry the sliced onions and carrots until golden at the edges.

4. 4

   Scatter the flour over and cook it for a couple of minutes, stirring, so it toasts rather than tasting raw in the gravy.

5. 5

   Shake in the Worcestershire sauce, pour in the stock and bring it to the boil, then stir the browned meat and the bay leaves back in and turn the heat off.

6. 6

   Lay the sliced potatoes over the meat in overlapping rows, like roof tiles, and drizzle a little more melted butter or beef tallow over them.

7. 7

   Cover and bake for about 1½ hours, until the potatoes are soft right through.

8. 8

   Take the lid off, brush the potatoes with more fat and either turn the oven up or slide it under the broiler for 5–8 minutes, until the top is brown and crisp.