This is a great dinner to make if you’re cooking for people that don’t like herbs, onions and spices. This version really is just meat, potatoes and a few vegetables in gravy. It is also nice simple cooking for you … there’s only 6 main ingredients, and it mostly cooks itself. Can’t ask fairer than that!
Lamb Hotpot (Serves 3-4)
700g diced stewing lamb
4 carrots
4 sticks celery
1 kg potatoes – preferably something like Desiree potatoes
3 oxo cubes
4 tsp cornflour
A drizzle of olive oil or other vegetable oil
First turn your oven on to 140C
Put a drizzle of oil into a casserole dish and heat briefly. Add the diced lamb and stir till the lamb pieces are brown all over.
If you’re good at multi-tasking, prepare the vegetables whilst the lamb is browning (otherwise prep the veg first!)
Peel and chop the carrots into 1cm chunks. Wash the celery and chop into 1-2cm chunks. Wash the potatoes and slice into half centimetre slices. I leave the skins on – lovely texture and taste and helps them hold their shape whilst cooking. Choosing a waxy potato like a Desiree is a good move as they don’t crumble up. But if you’re not fussed on presentation, any potato will do ok 😀
Once the meat is browned, add the celery and carrots and continue stirring occasionally on low heat.
Crumble the oxo cubes over the top, and add 700ml of boiling water. Stir till the granules have dissolved.
In a mug, mix 4 teaspoons of cornflour with a little water till you get a smooth paste, add a little splash more water so it is easy to pour. The mug should still be only about a quarter full.
Pour the cornflour into the hotpot, stirring. Bring the hotpot back up to the boil and you should see the gravy all nice and thick.
Once it’s simmering, arrange the slices of potatoes all over the top, drizzle them with a little more oil and sprinkle over about a teaspoon of salt.
Put the lid on your casserole dish and put it in the oven at 140C for about 2 hours. Take the lid off and cook for a further half hour or so to get a bit of browning on the potatoes.
Serve with a nice green veg like kale, broccoli, spring greens, spinach or chard.
