Feeds 4-6
Using a recipe dating back to Henry VII’s reign, this dish combines sweet, fruity flavours with succulent lamb resulting in a truly scrumptious meal.
Time to cook:
Approximately 2 hours
Oven temperature: Gas mark 3, 170°C, 325°F
Take...
450g (1lb) lean boneless lamb shoulder, leg or neck fillet, cut into 2.5cm (1inch) cubes
Salt and pepper
15ml (1tbsp) sunflower oil
1 cooking apple, peeled and grated
50g (2oz) currants
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of ½ lemon
50g (2oz) ground almonds
2.5ml (½tsp) ground cinnamon
2.5ml (½tsp) ground mace
600ml (1pint) hot, good lamb stock
Suet pastry...
300g (10oz) self-raising flour
150g (5oz) light suet
Pinch salt
175ml (6floz) cold water
Make...
1. Place the meat in a large bowl and season well.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the meat in batches for 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl and add the remaining pie ingredients except the stock.
3. Spoon into a 900ml (1½pint) ovenproof pie dish or 4 small ovenproof pie dishes and pour over the stock evenly.
4. Prepare the suet pastry: In a large bowl mix together the pastry ingredients. Roll out enough pastry to cover the large dish or individual pie dishes.
5. Brush the pie dish edges with a little water and top with the pastry. Lightly cover with foil and cook in a preheated oven for 2 hours.
6. During the last 15 minutes of cooking remove the foil and return to the oven to brown the pastry.