Lancashire Hot Pot

I like lamb as much as any other meat, but my girlfriend the Manicure Maniac absolutely loves the stuff.  I can see where she's coming from: it has a particular flavour, and it's so versatile.

I have to make a confession: I have no idea what cut of lamb I'm using today.  It was in the butcher's window just as "diced lamb" and reasonably priced so I bought it.  Any sort of slow-cooking cut will work here though: have a chat with the butcher and see what's in.  Neck or breast of lamb work well.

Start by frying the diced lamb to get it brown on all sides, along with two lambs' kidneys, cleaned and sliced into small pieces.

When they look nice and brown, transfer them to a plate and leave to one side.  Chop up an onion and fry that in the same pan.  You shouldn't need to add any more oil.

When the onion's softened and golden brown, add a tablespoonful of plain flour to the pan and stir until the onion's all coated.  Then add 200ml vegetable stock, made up from an Oxo cube, a few bay leaves, a sprinkling of thyme and a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce.  Cook over the lowest possible heat for a couple of minutes until it's reduced a bit.

Now we're ready to start assembling the hot pot.  It's all about layers - a bit like lasagne.

Start by buttering an oven-proof dish, one that's got a lid.

Now we need potato slices: a mandolin would be the ideal tool for this job, but a sharp knife would do.  I improvised a mandolin with the slicer part of my cheese grater.

Lay a layer of sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish and season with salt and pepper. 

Then place half the cooked lamb meat and kidneys on top, along with half the stock and onion mixture and a slice of black pudding, crumbled up by hand and spread all over.

Now make another layer of potatoes, then lay the rest of the stock, meat and black pudding on top, then finish the whole thing off with a final layer of potatoes.  Season the top with salt and pepper and some butter.

Cook in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes - 20 with the lid on, and 20 with the lid off to brown the top layer of potatoes.

Serve with your choice of veg - today I did courgette cut into wedges and flash-fried in very hot oil.

Taste verdict

Possibly the richest thing I've ever eaten!  A little goes a long way - a real meat feast.

Financial verdict

250g diced lamb - £4

2 lamb kidneys - 60p

Two slices of black pudding (totalling 145g) - £1.16

Onion - 20p

2 potatoes - 15p

Flour, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, stock, butter, salt and pepper - pennies, from store

It made four portions, two for us and two into tupperwares in the freezer, so £1.53 per portion.

The skinny

Fry lamb and kidneys just enough to brown all over, and set aside

Fry a chopped onion

Add a tablespoonful of plain flour and stir to coat the onion all over

Add 200ml vegetable stock, a sprinkling of thyme, some bay leaves and a good splash of Worcestershire sauce, and cook until it's reduced a bit

Assemble the hot pot in a greased ovenproof dish.  One layer of thin-slices potatoes, then a layer of meat, black pudding and stock.  Another layer of potatoes, then another layer of meat, black pudding and stock.  A final layer of potatoes on top

Cook in the oven at 180C - 20 minutes with the lid on, then 20 minutes with the lid off

Serve with green veg

WeightWatchers ProPoints

Are you sitting comfortably?  It's a delicious but waistline busting 19.