Anne Morgan You cook Delia Smith’s Lancashire hotpot slowly in the oven, with lamb chops and lambs’ kidneys under sliced potatoes. You brown the meat first and pour a light onion gravy over it, and the hotpot feeds 4 people. The work is all at the start, and then it sits in the oven for 2 hours 20 minutes.
Both the 1983 and the 1992 editions of her Complete Cookery Course print this recipe. The book links the name to an old race-day lunch. Families baked the pot at home, then kept it hot in blankets until they ate.
It is a lamb hotpot in every version, with neck chops and 4 lambs’ kidneys tucked in between them. The sliced potatoes make a lid on top, and they turn golden when the real lid comes off.
You get tender lamb and kidney in a savoury gravy, under a crisp brown potato top. For lamb on the bone without the potatoes, her lamb shank recipe braises shanks with cannellini beans, and her Irish stew bakes dumplings on top.
Delia Smith’s Traditional Lancashire Hotpot
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings25
minutes3
hours10
minutes720
kcalBrowned chops and kidney cooked slowly in onion gravy with bay and thyme, under overlapping potato slices. The top browns in the last 50 minutes, after the lid comes off.
Ingredients
- For the hotpot:
900g (2lb) best end and middle neck of lamb, cut into chop-sized pieces
4 lambs’ kidneys, cored, skinned and chopped fairly small
350g (12oz) onions, roughly chopped
a little butter
1 tablespoon flour
570ml (1 pint) hot water, mixed with ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
900g (2lb) potatoes, cut into 2cm (¾in) slices
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Directions
- Oven: Heat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas mark 3.
- Lamb: Trim any extra fat from the lamb. Heat some dripping in a large frying pan until it is smoking hot. Brown the lamb 2 or 3 pieces at a time, until each one has a good brown crust. Move the pieces to a wide casserole as they are done.
- Kidneys: Brown the kidney pieces in the same pan, then tuck them in between the lamb.
- Onions: Fry the onions in the pan for about 10 minutes, until they are brown at the edges. Add a little butter if the pan needs more fat.
- Gravy: Stir in the flour to soak up the juices. Slowly add the hot water and Worcestershire sauce, stirring or whisking until it is smooth. Season it, bring it up to a simmer and pour it over the meat.
- Potatoes: Add the bay leaf and thyme. Lay the potato slices on top in overlapping rows, like roof tiles. Season them and dot them with a few small pieces of butter.
- Bake: Put on a tight-fitting lid and cook it near the top of the oven for 1½ hours. Then take off the lid and cook it for 50 minutes more.
- Crisp: For a crisper top, brush the potatoes with a little more butter and put the casserole under a hot grill. If they are not browning in the oven, you can turn the heat right up for the last 15 minutes instead.
Notes
- Use a wide casserole with a tight-fitting lid. Her website version names a 3.5 litre (6 pint) flameproof casserole.
- Her website adds one small step at the end. Take out the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs before you serve it.
FAQs
Can I make Lancashire hotpot with beef?
Not in her Lancashire version, which uses lamb and lambs’ kidneys every time. For beef, she has a different dish in her Frugal Food book, a Steak and Kidney Hotpot for 6 people.
Fry 2 chopped onions in beef dripping for 5 minutes. Then turn up the heat and brown 700g (1½lb) of cubed chuck steak with 225g (8oz) of chopped ox kidney. Lower the heat and stir in 1 rounded tablespoon of plain flour.
Season it, add ¾ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and 275ml (½ pint) of beef stock, then tip it into a casserole once it simmers. Cover it with 900g (2lb) of thick potato slices, brush them with melted butter and bake it with a lid on. Give it 2½ to 3 hours at 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2, then crisp the top under a very hot grill.
Which lamb should I ask the butcher for?
Ask for best end and middle neck of lamb, cut into chops, the same best end she grills as lamb cutlets. In her Complete Cookery Course, Delia says best end of neck chops are just right for braising, and she names Lancashire hotpot as her example.
The names change around the country. She says these chops are single loin chops in Scotland and simply cutlets in the Midlands. She uses middle neck for stews because its bones add flavour to the liquid.
She adds that both cuts will roast as well. For a Sunday lamb roast, her garlic and rosemary recipe uses a whole leg instead.
How do I prepare lambs’ kidneys?
Peel off the thin skin, then cut each kidney in half lengthways. Pinch the white core between your fingers and snip all around it with kitchen scissors. Delia says the cores must come out, or the kidneys turn tough.
Delia says kidneys lose flavour if you keep them too long. Cook them on the day you buy them, or the next day at the latest. If you can find lambs’ kidneys still in their own fat, she says the fat helps them keep.
She melts that fat down slowly in a low oven into good cooking fat. My own tip is to use it as the dripping for browning the lamb.
Can I make Lancashire hotpot the day before?
Yes. In her casserole notes, Delia says many casseroles taste even better the next day. Cool it quickly, then keep it in the fridge once it is cold.
To reheat it, she uses the oven at the same heat as step 1. It must come up to a gentle simmer and stay there for 30 minutes, so allow about 45 minutes in all.
My own tip is to reheat it with the lid on. Then butter the potatoes lightly and crisp them under a hot grill, as in step 8.
What should I serve with Lancashire hotpot?
Her 1983 book suggests red cabbage. In that edition, she ends her braised red cabbage with apples by suggesting it with Lancashire hotpot. The 1992 edition drops that line, and its cabbage cooks for 1½ to 2 hours, an hour less than before.
The cabbage bakes gently for a long time, and she says it reheats very well. My own plan is to cook it the day before, then warm it up while the hotpot is in the oven.
Does Delia Smith have other hotpots?
Yes, five more, and four of them come from Frugal Food. Besides the beef one above, it has a Pork and Kidney Hotpot for 3 to 4 and a Liver and Vegetable Hotpot for 4. There is an Oxtail Hotpot for 3 too.
Her Complete Cookery Course adds an Ox Liver and Bacon Hotpot for 4, in the offal chapter. The beef hotpot and the liver and vegetable one also have a potato top.
The three versions of her hotpot
Delia’s Lancashire hotpot has changed only a little over the years. The meat, kidneys, gravy, oven and times are the same in her 1983 book, her 1992 book and on her website today.
| Cookery Course 1983 | Cookery Course 1992 | Her website | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fat to brown the lamb | Dripping | Dripping | 1 tbsp groundnut oil and 5g (¼oz) butter |
| Onions, 350g (12oz) | Roughly chopped | Roughly chopped | Cut into 1cm (½in) wedges |
| Potatoes, 900g (2lb) | ¾in (1.5cm) slices | ¾in (2cm) slices | Peeled, ¾in (2cm) slices |
| Kidneys | Cored, skinned, chopped | Chopped fairly small | Chopped fairly small |
| Thyme | 2 sprigs, or ½ tsp dried | 2 sprigs, or ½ tsp dried | 2 sprigs, no dried option |
Three-quarters of an inch is nearer 2cm than 1.5cm, so the 1992 book fixed the metric size. Our recipe card follows the 1992 book.
