3 Lamb neck fillets
3 Large Potatoes
2 Medium Onions
Fresh Rosemary
500ml Chicken stock
45g Butter
30g Plain Flour
Groundnut Oil
Salt & Pepper
Preheat the oven to 150c or Gas 2
Wash and peel the potatoes then cut into 5mm slices. Put the potatoes into a bowl and run cold water through them for 2 minutes to remove the starch. Peel the onions then cut them in half from root to tip and cut into 5mm slices. Wash and finely chop the rosemary – used dried as a last resort.
Put enough oil in a large pan to cover the base then put on to heat up on a high setting. Slice the lamb into 10mm thick slices and brown quickly in the oil then remove from the pan and drain. You may have to brown the lamb in two batches. Turn the heat to the pan down to a lower setting, add a little more oil to the pan (less than the amount used to brown the lamb). Add the sliced onion and allow to cook until soft then put 30g of the butter into the pan. Allow the butter to melt and the onions to caramelise a little then add the flour. Stir the pan and allow the contents to cook for a minute then add half the chicken stock. Stir as the pan heats and the sauce thickens then add the rest of the stock, rosemary, salt & pepper. Turn the pan down to the lowest setting and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
You need a casserole dish with a lid to cook the hotpot. Drain the potatoes and season with salt & pepper. Cover the base of the casserole dish with a layer of potatoes. Cover the layer of potatoes with half the lamb then cover with the onions and sauce. Add a second layer of potatoes, add the lamb then add the onions and sauce. Finally cover with a last layer of potato with each slice overlapping the last. Press the potato layer down to make the sauce from below rise to coat them. Put the lid on the casserole and put the dish onto a low oven shelf for 4 hours. I have left mine for 8 hours and the dish was great. If the lid on the casserole is not very tight and you want to leave it to cook for longer cover the top with the lid on with tin foil.
To finish the hotpot melt the remaining butter. Remove the dish from the oven and remove the lid and foil if used. Turn the oven up to 220c or Gas 7 and move a shelf to the centre. Brush the top of the hotpot with the melted butter them return to the oven uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and crunchy.
