Nigel Slater's Lancashire hotpot
Method
-
Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan/Gas 3.
-
Season the lamb chops with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, then fry the lamb chops for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until browned all over. Transfer the lamb chops to a medium casserole.
-
Fry the carrot, celery and onion in the same frying pan for 4-5 minutes, or until coloured and softened.
-
Stir the flour into the vegetables and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the flour turns a biscuit colour.
-
Pour in the beef stock and stir well until the liquid has thickened and there are no visible lumps of flour.
-
Transfer the vegetables and thickened stock to the casserole. Add 7 thyme sprigs and the bay leaf, then bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat until the mixture is just simmering.
-
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat.
-
Arrange the potato slices on top of the hotpot, overlapping the edges slightly. Brush the potato slices all over with the melted butter. Sprinkle the top with a few thyme leaves from the remaining sprig of thyme.
-
Bake the hotpot in the oven for 1-1½ hours, or until the potato topping is crisp and golden-brown and the vegetables are tender.
Ingredients
- 6 lamb chops, weighing approximately 500g/1lb 2oz in total
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 celery stalk, trimmed, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 litre/1¾ pints beef stock
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 100g/3½oz butter, melted
- 2 large floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, sliced into 1cm/½in-thick discs
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Shopping List
Nigel Slater's Lancashire hotpot
Fruit and vegetables
Tins, packets and jars
Cooking ingredients
Dairy, eggs and chilled
Meat, fish and poultry