Lamb hotpot is one of my favourite food heavens. In fact anything with lamb in ticks the box with me. There is something very therapeutic about placing the potatoes in circles on the top.
Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
2 large onions sliced
3 garlic gloves crushed
1 red and green pepper roughly chopped
1/2 tsp thyme, ground all Spice and turmeric
1 tsp cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and ground coriander
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp plain flour
1 x 400 ml coconut milk (I used low fat)
1 tbsp light muscovado sugar
Bunch of coriander – separate stalks from leaves
Juice of a lime
100g spinach
1 kg diced lamb
For the topping
500g red skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 3mm slices
250g sweet potatoes as above
25g butter melted to brush on top
Method
Preheat oven to 170°, fan 150°, gas mark 3. Heat oil up in a 2.5 litre capacity shallow casserole dish. Add onions and cook on low heat for 5 minutes until start to soften. Add the peppers and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic, thyme, spices and tomato purée. Cook for another 2 minutes stirring constantly.
Add flour and cook this out for 2 minutes before adding the coconut milk and 100ml of water. Stir until smooth, season then add the sugar and lime juice. Stir in the coriander stalks, spinach and lamb.
Arrange a ring of overlapping slices of red skinned potatoes, then a ring of sweet potatoes and repeat until all the potatoes have been used. Brush with butter. Cover with foil.
Put the dish on a baking tray to catch the drips and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. Increase the temperature to 220°, remove foil and cook for a further 30 minutes until potatoes are crispy.
Adventures of Cumbrian Blondie 