Mutton hotpot with heritage carrots
Mutton might not be as popular as it once was, but it's the traditional - and most flavouful - meat to use in hotpots. Using the rendered suet fat from around the kidney adds even more taste.
Ingredients
- 2 mutton kidneys, fat on
- 1kg/2lb 4oz boneless leg of mutton, cut into 2.5cm/1in pieces
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 large onions, cut into thick slices
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 600ml/20fl oz fresh beef stock
- 900g/2lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm/录in thick slices
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100驳/3陆辞锄 butter
- 300g/10陆oz heritage carrots, cleaned and trimmed
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Trim the fat from the kidneys and place the fat into a large ovenproof casserole and cook over a medium heat until the fat begins to melt and is golden-brown.
Sprinkle the mutton all over with the flour. Add half the mutton and kidneys to the casserole and cook until browned all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining meat and cook until browned all over, then add half the onions and the bay leaves. Top with the reserved mutton then the remaining onions.
Add the Worcestershire sauce and stock and bring to a simmer.
Arrange the potato slices on top in an overlapping pattern.
Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and add a few dots of butter over the top. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for two hours in the preheated oven. When cooked, you can brush the potatoes with a little more butter, then place under the grill to crisp up if you like. Alternatively, increase the oven temperature during the last 30 minutes in the oven and remove the lid.
When the hotpot is cooked, bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add the carrots and simmer until just tender, about 3-5 minutes. Drain and toss with the remaining butter, salt and black pepper.
Serve a pile of hotpot on each plate with some carrots alongside.
