A Lancashite Hotpot 🍲
Hiya!
ICYMI, we're officially five weeks away from Christmas. FIVE WEEKS. And by then, it'll have been nine full months since our first lockdown started in the UK, with most of us working from home through most of that. Time flies when you're having fun, eh?
So, given that the Christmas countdown for the-year-that-shall-not-be-named is underway, I’ve naturally started reminiscing about what previous Christmases have been like. That's when I remembered going up north last year to visit a friend and having a Lancashire Hotpot at a pub the day after Boxing Day. It also birthed this MASSIVELY embarrassing typo that I will never live down:
Anyway, back to the Lancashire Hotpot. I'd never had anything like it – I couldn't understand how something could taste so comfortingly familiar while also being decidedly un-stewy at the same time.
I let my food-related obsessiveness take control, and spent the last couple of weeks road-testing different recipes (trust me when I say that my freezer is genuinely FULL of Ragu, Lasagne and Lancashire Hotpot). My goal was to re-create the version that I’d eaten at the pub (which was boneless and fuss-free to chow down on) while still having all the flavour from making it with bone-in meat. I was a man on a mission to make Lancashire proud!
I eventually settled on a halfway point, taking the best of a Delia recipe and a BBC Good Food recipe to make a meaty, hearty and veg-filled hotpot. The end result tastes familiar and simple, packs a bit of a crunch, has all sorts of aromas coming from the herbs, and has a good bit of depth from the little extras that I’ve added to the recipe.
Not-so-secret ingredients
You'll find that this recipe contains liver (gasp) but don't worry because the preparation below ensures that liver-haters will be none the wiser about its existence (trust me, I've tested this on liver-haters and have gotten the thumbs up!)
I've also added anchovies in this recipe as a flavour enhancer, and as a nod back to when the recipe used to contain oysters in the 17th century. As with the liver, anchovy-haters will not notice that it’s in the recipe by the time you serve it.
Also, if you don't mind a bit of admin before serving up, I'd 100% recommend using a bone-in leg / shoulder / neck of lamb for this recipe because it really does add immense richness and fullness of flavour. Plus, those joints are perfect for a long braise in the oven and eventually melt into perfect fork-tender meat. You’ll just need to buy a joint of lamb that is slightly heavier than what I’ve listed below to account for the weight of the bone + the extra surface fat that you’ll trim off before browning the meat.
BUT because I wanted to make a version that is similar to what I had at the pub, this recipe has no bones (sigh) and therefore has no bone-related admin to deal with, which on the plus side, means that it’s super easy to serve straight out of the oven.
As always, I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you make it, don't forget to tag me in your pics at @forksandchopstix! 😍
Serves 5 - 6
Prep time: 1 hour to chop your veggies and prep your meat (not a euphemism)
Oven time: Approx. 2 hours in total
Shopping list
Carrots, 3 medium
Yellow / Brown onions, 2 large
Leeks, 2 large
Potatoes, 1kg (a little less is fine)
Lamb meat, 1kg, large chunks / diced
Lamb liver, 150g
Duck / Goose fat, approx. 100g (but you might need a bit more. Use olive oil, dripping or ghee if you have it, but goose fat was what I had on hand)
Anchovies, 5 - 6 fillets
Plain Flour, 2 heap tablespoons
Worcestershire sauce, 2 teaspoons
Lamb or Chicken stock, 500ml (Vegetable stock is fine, just not beef as it’s too heavy)
Water, 500ml
Thyme, 4 fresh sprigs
Rosemary, 1 fresh sprig
Bay leaves, 3 dried leaves
Oregano, 1.5 teaspoons of dried
Salt and Pepper
Okay cool, now:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 140 degrees Celcius.
2. Prep your veggies by chopping your 3 carrots and 2 onions into approx. half-inch cubes. Halve your 2 leeks lengthways, wash in between the leaves (nobody wants a sandy hotpot) and then thinly slice cross-wise.
Next, peel and slice your 1kg of potatoes into thin discs. Don’t worry if some discs are thicker or smaller than others. Place in a large bowl, submerge in tap water to prevent oxidation and set aside.
3. Prep your lamb meat by trimming off most of the visible fat on the surface and removing any tough bits of sinew.
4. Brown your meat in a large, oven-safe casserole pot / dutch oven on medium-high heat with a couple of teaspoons of your goose fat, enough to cover the bottom of the pot. Fry off the lamb meat chunks and the lamb liver for 2 - 3 minutes, or whenever you get rich, dark brown caramelisation on all sides. As with my Ragu recipe, your goal is to colour the meat to develop flavour, not to actually cook it through at this point. Once browned, remove the meats from the pot and set aside in a large bowl.
5. Start the hotpot by turning the heat down to medium. Tumble your chopped leeks, onions and carrots into the pot. Give it a good stir for a few minutes, trying your best to scrape up the brown bits at the bottom of the pot (yaaaaaaaasssssss flavour). Slip in 5 or 6 anchovy fillets, continuing to stir enthusiastically – the anchovies should mysteriously disappear from sight like a bad Tinder date.
Stir in 2 heaped tablespoons of flour, shortly followed by 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce and 1.5 teaspoons of dried oregano. The mixture should start catching slightly on the bottom of the pot – this is when you pour in your 500ml of lamb / chicken stock and another 500ml of water. Gently scrape the bottom of the pot to release any stuck brown bits, and bring the pot to an excited boil. Taste and season with salt and pepper – if it tastes just slightly under-seasoned at this point, it’ll be perfect once the mixture has reduced in the oven. Meanwhile-
6. Finely chop your lamb liver which should be cool enough to handle by now. Go at it until it looks like a sandy paste, as you’ll want this to disintegrate into the hotpot, giving it ‘body’ without anyone realising that there’s liver in it. We’re not ashamed of the lamb liver, we just… don’t want people to see us in public with it.
7. Add your browned meat and finely chopped lamb liver back to the pot once it’s come to a boil. Give it a stir to ensure everything is nicely submerged, before adding 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, and 3 bay leaves. Gently push the herbs down into the bubbling mixture but don’t stir it as you’ll be removing them later.
Cover with the lid and bake in the oven at 140 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.
8. Remove the pot from the oven and turn it up to 180 degrees Celcius. While the oven pre-heats, remove the lid and fish out the sprigs of rosemary and thyme from the pot.
Drain your potatoes and begin layering the potato slices on top of the mixture, working your way toward the middle of the pot. Be sure to overlap your slices as if you were making a dauphinoise. Once you’ve completed a layer, create a second one on top of that with the remaining potato slices. You should be able to create 2 or 3 layers of sliced potatoes – the bottom layer(s) will get nice and tender as they’re sat in the stewy mixture, while the top layer will get nice and crisp. Try your best not to leave any gaps.
Once you've used up all of your sliced potatoes, spoon or brush over a few tablespoons of your goose fat over the top and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper before returning to the oven uncovered, at 180 degrees Celsius for 50 - 55 mins until golden brown and bubbly. Serve hot.
And there you go, your very own Lancashire Hotpot. A gloriously appropriate meal for the season – perfectly crispy yet tender potatoes with rich, saucy, earthy and intensely aromatic lamb. Have it with some steamed broccoli or french beans, or have it on its own (the leeks and carrots make it a vaguely balanced meal, mom!)
I hope you love it as much as I do, and when you make this recipe, please don’t forget to leave a comment here or tag me @forksandchopstix.
Happy cooking and see you for another issue of Forks & Chopstix in a couple of weeks!
x Mark
Looking for more recipes to check out, why not these?
My favourite Lasagne and meaty Ragu
Singapore Chicken Curry with Rice or Noodles
Mushroom Shawarma Pitas with Turmeric Yoghurt
Vietnamese Bun Cha with Beef or Tofu
Slow-Roasted Gochujang Chicken with the works
Or follow me on Instagram for more:@forksandchopstix