Lamb hotpot with merguez and butter beans

Portion size: Serves 6-8
Prep time 25 min. Cook time 1 hour 30 min
Difficulty: easy

Gluten-free

Rosie Mackean

Chef and food writer

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This spiced lamb hot pot with merguez sausages and butter beans from entertaining expert Rosie Mackean makes the perfect easy main course for an autumn dinner party.

The inspiration: “When I was at primary school they used to serve us a winter warmer called ‘cowboy pie’. It was quite simply sausages floating in a sea of baked beans, covered in a layer of thinly sliced potato. I loved it so much, and think about it often.”
Modern comfort food: “I haven’t tried to re-create ‘cowboy pie’ exactly here, but it has inspired something a lot more exciting and perfect for a dinner party. Lamb merguez sausages are little flavour bombs and one of my favourite things to cook with. This hotpot has a spiced merguez and mince ragù, enriched with soft, creamy butter beans and topped with layers of finely sliced potato. It’s a wonderfully soothing showstopper – great with a dollop of yogurt and some nice buttered greens.”
Make ahead: You can make the lamb ragù up to 3 days before, cover and chill in the fridge. To serve, reheat the ragù, top with potatoes and bake.

Try this dish as part of Rosie’s autumnal dinner menu for 6, with cheat’s taramasalata to start and a cosy blackberry sponge for dessert.

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Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
500g lamb mince
8 merguez sausages
2 onions, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp ras el hanout
400g tin chopped tomatoes
600ml lamb stock
700g jar butter beans, drained and rinsed
800g maris piper potatoes, peeled and finely sliced (ideally 2.5mm thick using a mandoline)
60g unsalted butter, melted
Greek yogurt and mint leaves to serve

For the greens

200g cavolo nero, any tough bits discarded, sliced into strips
150g savoy cabbage, any tough bits discarded, sliced into strips
Iced water
60g unsalted butter

Specialist kit

26cm cast iron pan or pie dish

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Method

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole (one with a lid) over a medium heat. Add the lamb mince in chunks and cook until they get a good golden crust before breaking them up with a wooden spoon. Once browned all over, remove the mince from the pan and set aside. Add the merguez sausages to the same pan and cook until browned all over – they’ll release a lot of bright red fat. Set the sausages aside with the lamb mince, then pour off all but 2 tbsp of the fat in the dish.
Return the dish to the heat and add the onions, celery and carrot. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just starting to caramelise. Add the garlic, chilli and ras el hanout, cook for 2 minutes, then pour in the tomatoes, stock and beans. Stir well, season generously, then leave to simmer over a low heat for 40 minutes until thickened.
Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Rinse the sliced potatoes in running water, then drain and pat dry with kitchen paper. Put them in a big bowl, add the melted butter and plenty of salt and pepper, then toss to coat.
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If you’ve made the ragù in advance, gently reheat it before putting it in the cast iron dish/pie dish. Lay the potatoes on top – I like to keep it simple, overlapping them in lines like fish scales. You should have enough potatoes for 2 layers. Once finished, season with a little more salt, then bake for 40 minutes until golden on top.
Meanwhile, blanch the cavolo nero and cabbage in boiling salted water for 2 minutes, then drain and refresh in iced water. When the hotpot is nearly ready to serve, gently reheat the greens in a frying pan with the 60g butter and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Serve the hotpot with the greens, a dollop of yogurt on the side and a sprinkling of fresh mint.