Recipe: cheap Lancashire hot pot

I LOVE A good hot pot as it's the perfect dish for a wet, chilly evening. Here, I've used lamb mince rather than a more traditional stewing cut as it's cheaper and you don't have to faff around trimming the meat before cooking.  This is a really easy, yet extremely satisfying dish.

Ingredients:

400g lamb mince

2x onions, sliced

2x carrots, diced into small cubes

2x potatoes, sliced to the thickness of a 50p (I used King Edward)

1 tbsp, tomato puree

Good dash, Worcester sauce

300ml, chicken stock

Few sprigs of thyme

Knob of butter, melted

Salt

Pepper

Method:

1) Pre-heat oven to 180C. In a hot frying pan, seal the lamb mince until lightly browned. Set aside.

2) On a medium heat, gently sweat the sliced onions until soft and translucent.  Add the diced carrots for the last couple of minutes.

3) Add the lamb to the onion mixture and stir in the tomato puree and Worcester sauce. Season with salt and pepper then add the stock and thyme. Bring to the boil then take off the heat.

4) Layer the potatoes over the meat mixture. Brush with butter and season.  Sprinkle over some more thyme.

5) Place into the oven for 1 hour. Allow to rest for five minutes before serving.