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Savour every mouthful of this rich, comforting pie with a red wine gravy and potato topping Lamb & dauphinoise hotpot

Warm up with our comforting lamb & dauphinoise potatoes hotpot

■ Serves 8 ■ Prep 15 mins plus overnight chilling ■ Cook 4 hrs and 10 mins

3 large carrots, cut into large chunks 1 onion, roughly chopped

1 garlic bulb, halved a few rosemary and thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp tomato purée

2.5kg shoulder of lamb on the bone 1 bottle red wine

FOR THE TOPPING

4-5 potatoes (the roundest you have) 4 sweet potatoes (the roundest you have) 150ml double cream few knobs of butter

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. In a flameproof casserole dish that is large enough to fit the lamb, snugly scatter over all the vegetables and herbs, and roughly stir in the tomato purée. Sit the lamb on top, pour over the wine and season well. Cover and heat briefly on the hob, then cook in the oven undisturbed for 3 hrs. Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then chill overnight.

2 The next day, remove all the hard fat from around the lamb and discard. Lift the lamb out of the dish, scraping away the jellied juices and reserving them. Shred the meat, discarding any large pieces of fat and the bones. Return the lamb to the dish, then spoon over the reserved jellied juices and mix with the vegetables. Set aside.

3 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. To make the topping, peel and neatly slice the potatoes into rounds. Place in a pan of cold salted water, bring to the boil and immediately drain. Return the potatoes to the pan, pour over the cream and season. Pile the potatoes over the lamb hotpot, or neatly arrange them in overlapping circles. Dot with butter, then bake for 40 mins-1 hr until the top is golden and the sauce is just starting to bubble.

PER SERVING 645 kcals, fat 32g, saturates 17g,

carbs 24g, sugars 9g, fibre 4g, protein 49g, salt 0.6g

A filling winter meal