Hubby is always nagging me to get off my backside and get round to subscribing to my three favourite magazines, Delicious, Olive and Good Food ! Like he has pointed out, I religiously buy them every month and have done for years, so why not subscribe, save some money and get them delivered to the door. Sounds perfect, but I just never ever got round to it. Last night, Hubby had enough and sat down and subscribed to the lot for me. So I can’t wait to start receiving them.
Whilst on the subject of Hubby, which I usually am, as its one of my favourite subjects, I am hoping that he is rather proud of me today. He recently commented on the fact that the “Mains” drop down on my Blog recipe list was getting far to big and that some people may have trouble seeing everything. So today I have mustered up the courage, written some java script, I hope thats the right terminology, sorry Hubby if its not and have sorted it out.
We now have four “Mains” sections, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Other. The first three are self explanatory and “Other” for now covers everything else, English, French, Indian and so on.
I hope you enjoy the new lay out and find it easy to navigate.
Buon appeitto
Recipe makes 4 – 6 pies, I did one large one as it was easier.
It does take ages to cook, but it so worth it. I love lamb, but it can be a little fatty, the lemon in this dish just cuts through that and makes this such an amazing yummy dish, has to be one of my favourites.
1kg lamb shoulder, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Large handful of fresh oregano, roughly chopped or 2 teaspoons of dried
75g kalamata olives, which you guessed it, I left out as we HATE them with a passion
600ml red wine, and of course we drunk the leftovers
300ml beef stock
Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Large bunch of fresh mint, chopped
For the mash topping
1kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper – cubed
250ml whole milk, hot (I used semi skimmed)
50g butter, melted
180g feta, drained and crumbled
Preheat the oven to 160c/140c fan/gas 3.
Put the lamb cubes in a bowl and toss well in the flour. Season with ground black pepper and a good pinch of salt. I find it easier to put the flour into the bowl first, mix in the pepper & salt, then toss the meat in to the bowl.
Heat 2tbsp of oil in a large lidded flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat. fry the lamb pieces in batches until just golden all over. remove the cooked lamb from the dish with a slotted spoon after each batch and set a side.
Heat the remaining oil, add the red onion, then cook for a few minutes. Add the garlic, oregano and olives if using, then toss together well. Increase the heat to high, add the red wine and bubble rapidly for 3 – 4 minutes. Reduce the heat, add the beef stock, return the lamb to the dish and season.
Cover the casserole and place in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours until the lamb is tender and the sauce is rich & thickened. Set aside to cool while you prepare the topping.
Boil the potatoes in a large pan of lightly salted water for 15 – 20 minutes until tender. Drain, then pass through a potato ricer or mash well until smooth. return to the pan and beat in the hot milk and butter. Stir in 120g feta and season well.
TIP : I always make my mash in my Artisan (Food Mixer) using the large beater, a little trick I learnt from Hubby. I also didn’t bother returning the potatoes to the pan as above, I just left the Artisan running and slowly tipped in the milk & butter, perfect mash every time. I then just gently stirred the feta through so that it didn’t get to mashed up.
Stir the lemon jest and juice into the lamb filling along with the fresh mint. Spoon into your individual bowls if using, or large dish if doing like I did and spoon the feta mash on top. Sprinkle with the remaining feta, then bake in a preheated oven at 200c, fan 180c, gas 6 for 30 – 35 minutes, until golden on top.
You can also make these pies, allow to cool completely, then wrap them well in cling film then foil and freeze until needed. The day before you want to eat them, remove from the freezer & defrost completely overnight in the fridge.
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