Herdwick lamb, damson and juniper pie

Prep time:30 minutes

Cook dinner time:2 hrs 40 minutes

Serves: 6

A conventional British recipe for a hearty lamb pie from Caroline Watson

Components

For the shortcrust pastry

500g plain flour

230g salted butter

1 tsp dry mustard

overwhelmed eggs, to glaze

For the filling

1-2 tbsp oil

1kg Herdwick hogget or different boneless lamb shoulder, cubed

4 onions, chopped

1 swede, chopped

600ml native stout or ale

100g black pudding, chopped

200g damsons, stoned

1 tsp juniper berries, floor

1 small jar damson jam

1/2 tsp dried garlic

1/2 tsp floor ginger

1/2 tsp floor cinnamon

1 tbsp Hawkshead relish or Worcestershire sauce

Technique

1. For the pastry: sift the flour right into a mixing bowl and rub within the butter along with your fingertips till the combination resembles effective breadcrumbs. Stir within the dry mustard and simply sufficient chilly water to carry the combination collectively right into a delicate dough. Flip this on to a flippantly floured board and knead it flippantly till clean, then kind it right into a ball. Wrap it in cling movie and put it within the fridge when you make the filling.

2. For the filling: Preheat the oven to 170C/gasoline 3. Warmth the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high warmth. Brown the lamb in batches and switch it to a big flameproof casserole. Add the onion and swede to the frying pan and cook dinner till softened and turning golden, then stir them into the lamb. Add all of the remaining filling elements to the casserole and high it up with as a lot water as wanted to cowl. Cowl with a lid and put within the oven for two hours (or simmer over a low warmth) till the meat is tender. Take away the casserole from the oven or hob and permit it to chill.

3. An hour earlier than you wish to serve, preheat the oven to 170C/gasoline 3. Take the dough out of the fridge, permit it to heat up a little bit after which roll it out on a flippantly floured board. Use two-thirds to line a big pie dish and fill this with the lamb combination. Cowl the lamb with the remaining dough and crimp the sting to seal. Brush the overwhelmed egg excessive to glaze. Reduce a small gap within the high to permit the steam to flee throughout baking. Put the pie dish on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, or till the pastry is golden.