One of my favourite winter warmers, this old-fashioned English dish combines full-flavoured lamb with layers of potato and onion. I like to throw in lots of garlic and rosemary, and sometimes I add a couple of anchovies when I'm sweating the onions. They melt down and add a great savoury undertone. Lancashire hotpot makes a great filling meal just on its own, but I really like to serve it with Minted Peas (page 308) crushed with the back of a fork to make them mushy.

Adrian Richardson talking Hot Pots with Neil Mitchell

RECIPE

3 tablespoons olive oil

12 lamb chump chops (about 1 kg)

100 g butter

8 onions, sliced (about 1.5 kg)

8 garlic cloves, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm slices (about 1 kg)

salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 sprigs thyme

1 litre hot lamb or chicken stock (or even just water)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole over a medium heat. Add the lamb chops and sauté until evenly browned then transfer to a large plate and keep warm.

Add half the butter to the casserole and sweat the onions, garlic, bay leaves and rosemary for 10-15 minutes until soft, but not coloured. Remove half the onion mixture from the casserole to a large plate.

Arrange half the potato slices on top of the onion in the casserole and season generously. Arrange the lamb chops on top of the potatoes then spread the remaining onions on top. Scatter on the sprigs of thyme, then top with the remaining potato slices. Season again, then dot the surface of the potatoes with the remaining butter. Pour in enough hot stock to just reach the top layer of potatoes.

Cover the casserole and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. You want the potatoes to be nice and golden brown and a bit crunchy on top.