Comforting Lamb Pie with Red Wine and Rosemary
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It’s been a little over three months since I last posted and it’s hard to wrap my mind around how quickly the world has changed.
On New Year’s Eve, I posted a delicious crème brûlée recipe, meant to be shared with family and friends during the holidays. Fast forward to April and, we’re socially distancing to slow and limit the spread of COVID-19. Your Easter and Passover festivities are physically limited to those who live in your household and for those joining virtually, well, it’s not yet possible to share food through a screen. But I suppose if you and your virtual guests cooked and ate the same recipes, that could count as a way to share food through a screen and could also make for a lot of fun.
But this isn’t a holiday-themed post. My goal is to simply share with you a little bit of comfort during this pandemic because I think it’s something we all need right now. With that being said, I present to you my recipe for an savory lamb pie because…what else could be more comforting?
Since Adrian and I started socially distancing four weeks ago, we have been cooking up a bunch of delicious food. As there’s not much else to do on a lazy Sunday, other than toiling away in the kitchen, we’ve enjoyed cooking up recipes that we’d only make on special occasion.
Last year, Adrian bought The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, written by Hannah Glasse in 1747, which features several recipes for savory meat pies. It’s a fun read, although cryptic. While Hannah’s lamb pie instructions aren’t nearly as clear as mine, we were still able to draw inspiration from her recipe by adding nutmeg, cloves, and anchovies to ours. The result? Incredible. The nutmeg and cloves add holiday-like flavors and the anchovies add a drool-worthy punch of umami. If you’re squeamish about anchovies, they’re totally optional. But believe me that there is zero fishiness if you choose to include them – only a lot of yumminess.
Since we’re all limited in what we can purchase at the store, you’ll be pleased to know that there is room for flexibility with this recipe. If you don’t have lamb, feel free to use steak. If your store isn’t carrying puff pastry, you can make your own if you have access to flour. I actually made my own for the first time when I made this recipe and it came out great! You can find that recipe at Baking a Moment's blog. Lastly, if your grocery store is out of carrots like mine was, feel free to substitute with baby carrots. They’re easy to chop and are already peeled anyway!
Whether or not you make this recipe, I hope that you, your family, and friends can all stay safe and well during this crisis. I think one thing we’ve realized is that we’re a lot stronger than we thought we thought. So, keep staying at home to fight the good fight, and I hope you get to cook a lot between now and when this is all over. I’ll be here to share recipes with you in the meantime.
Comforting Lamb Pie with Red Wine and Rosemary
Time: 3 Hours
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 ½ lb boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 large brown onion, peeled and halved
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 cup dry red wine
¼ tsp mace
1/8 tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 (14 oz) can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 ¼ cups beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 anchovy fillets, packed in oil, chopped
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed if frozen
1 egg yolk whisked with 1 tsp water
2 tsp potato starch (or corn starch) mixed with 2 tbsp water (optional)
Chopped rosemary and thyme, to garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 320 degrees F.
In a small bowl, toss flour with lamb to coat.
Heat oil in a large oven-proof skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown lamb in batches, about 5 minutes per batch, and transfer to a plate.
To the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Stir in onion and sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, celery, garlic, rosemary, and thyme, and cook until softened, about 4-5 minutes. Pour over red wine and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Return the browned lamb to the pan and stir in the mace, nutmeg, cloves, tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and bay leaves. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover, and transfer to the oven. Bake until the lamb is tender, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. If the stew is thin, stir in the potato starch slurry and thicken to your liking. Allow stew to cool slightly.
Increase the oven’s temperature to 375 degrees F.
Transfer the stew to a lightly buttered 9 or 10-inch pie dish. Drape the puff pastry over the pie dish and tuck in the sides. Cut a cross in the center of the pie and brush with the egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden.
Slice pie into wedges. Garnish with rosemary and thyme and serve!
If you loved this recipe, you will also love my recipes for: Shepherd’s Pie with Steamed Cabbage, Mushroom & Real California Brie Stuffed Pastry Wreath, and Ham & Split Pea Soup with Herbed Croutons!
