Simple and Quick Lamb Pie

This is a great dish to do with leftover lamb though you can of course use fresh; it is quick, easy and very tasty. It is also a great dish to play around with, add some vegetables, make it a little spicy, mix some herbs or something into the topping….whatever takes your fancy.

Ingredients, serves 4

• 500g cooked or fresh lamb
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped fine
• 2 tbsp sherry
• 100ml lamb or beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• Pinch dried mixed herbs
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp pimenton
• Small handful of washed chopped fresh parsley
• 1 medium sized potato
• Breadcrumbs, enough to make a crust about 1.5 inches (3 cm) deep.
• 100g hard cheese (cheddar, gruyere) - grated

And then you need to:

In a small saucepan put the whole unpeeled potato, cover with water, add 1 tsp salt and bring to boil. Boil in water for 20 minutes.

In a heavy casserole dish heat a glug of olive oil, and gently sauté onions and garlic. If you are using fresh meat cut the lamb into smallish cubes and add at this stage. If you are using leftovers add a little later (see below).

Once the lamb/onions have cooked add sherry and stock and reduce by about half. Add tomato puree, pinch of dried herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme, etc), the cooked lamb (if you are using the leftovers from a roast) and the can of chopped tomatoes. Simmer over low heat until the sauce is quite thick.

Cut the potato into thin slices. No need to peel.

In a food processor whiz up some breadcrumbs and then add the grated cheese. Whizz with a blade to mix thoroughly.

Remove the casserole dish from the heat, stir in chopped parsley, place the potato slices in a thin layer over the top. Sprinkle the breadcrumb/cheese mix over the potatoes and cook in an oven (175C/375F) for 40 mins. Keep an eye on it to make sure the top doesn’t burn.

Alternatives:

On top of the sauce and under the potatoes you could also place a layer of sliced aubergine. The aubergine will need to be sliced and gently fried in olive oil (then drained on kitchen paper) first because the cooking time might not be enough to do them properly.

You could add diced carrot, peas or some beans (cannellini, flageolet) to make it a more hearty pie.