Leftover-Lamb Pie recipe

I saw the Credit Crunch Munch logo on twitter the other which reminded me that I hadn't joined in with one of these blog hops - as opposed to just borrowing the recipes - for ages. It was longer than I thought - my Chicken and Chorizo Stew in March 2013! The Credit Crunch Munch idea was first thought up by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and this month's host is BakingQueen74.

We bought a delicious small-half shoulder of lamb from Watson's Farm Shop a few days ago which Dave slow cooked to perfection! There was, however, some good meat left over so, instead of just overeating, ww decided to save it to make my Leftover-Lamb Pie. I think this was originally a wartime recipe and I first saw a version of it in a vintage copy of Meat Dishes (500 Recipes), but the skills and ingredients are basic so it's probably one that every household used at one time or another. You could use bought shortcrust pastry instead of making your own, and both the cooked meat and the vegetable ingredients would be interchangeable to use up whatever is to hand!

Pastry Ingredients:

Leftover-Lamb Pie with braised red cabbage 

4 oz plain flour
2 oz butter
3 tbsp cold water

1 egg (for brushing over top of pie)

Cut the butter into small pieces and gently rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. I used salted butter, but if you have unsalted or margarine, you could add a pinch of salt here. The slowly add the water and mix it in with a palette knife (or similar) until you have a soft-but-not-sticky dough.

I made the pastry first, then wrapped it in clingfilm to rest in the fridge while I made the pie filling.

Filling ingredients:
Splash of rapeseed or olive oil
1/2 onion
1/2 tsp Kush Cuisine Cocoa Spice Rub
1 tbsp white flour
3 white mushrooms
2-3 oz cooked lamb
200ml beef stock

Finely slice the onion and fry in the oil until softened. Add 1/2 tsp of any warming curry-type spice blend you have. My Kush Cuisine jar is still going strong from the Pevensey Food and Wine Fair and is perfect for this, but something like Garam Masala would do as well.

Stir in the flour to make a thickish oniony paste, then slowly pour in the stock, stirring continuously, untill all the flour lumps have dissolved. You might not need all the stock if you prefer a thicker sauce filling.

Dice the mushrooms and add to the pan.

Cut or tear the lamb into bite-sized chunks and add to the pan. Stir to combine and simmer until sauce is desired consistency, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. 

Remove pan from heat and pour filling into pie dish. I actually used the inch deep lid of a pyrex dish.

Preheat oven to about 200c or a little hotter.

Dust a worktop with flour and roll out the pastry to be large enough to cover the pie dish. Beat the egg in a cup. Dab a little egg around the edges of the dish to help the pastry stick. Carefully lift it over the pie and crimp the edges. Trim any excessive overhangs.

Brush the top of the pie with more egg to ensure a golden crust and make a couple of holes to allow steam to escape.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately.

And while your pie is baking, we can look at all the other great Credit Crunch Munch recipes ...