A Bonfire Hotpot

All I could think about today was lamb hotpot. From the moment I took the diced lamb out of the freezer this morning it was constantly on my mind. I've been planning the recipe all day, perfecting it in my mind. I could almost taste it before I even made it. November the 5th. It just felt like the right dish for bonfire night. Dark, rich and comforting. Perfect for a cold night. And trust me it didn't disappoint.

I didn't even have a base recipe for this one, it was invented by what I thought worked together. Lamb and aubergine belong together. The taste, colour and texture just work really well. And rosemary and thyme are the natural choice to go with them. I've been experimenting with knorr stock pots recently and have found they're a bit heavy for pastas and risottos but perfect for soups and casseroles. It gave the lamb base a great depth and flavour. As for the topping, I've read that sweet potato is better for you than regular potato but N has been very sceptical to try it. A combination of the two worked very well as a topping.

I know it takes a while to make this one so a weekday may not be practical, but I definitely recommend you try it at a weekend. The best thing about it is once it's in the oven you're free to have a well deserved break. A cup of tea, a glass of red wine or a peak out of the window to watch the fireworks!

  Lamb and Aubergine Hotpot

(seves 2 | total prep and cooking time 1 hour 30 minutes)

Ingredients

400g diced lamb

1 small aubergine - cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 red onion - diced

3 garlic cloves - finely chopped

2 totmatoes - chopped

200ml hot water - finely chopped

1 vegetable stock pot

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

A few sprigs of thyme

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 potato - sliced

1 sweet potato - sliced

Dry Italian herbs

Method

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

- Lightly grease an oven proof dish

- Remove any excess fat from the lamb

- Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and brown the lamb. Set aside

- Heat some oil in a saucepan and fry the oinions

- Add the garlic and cook for a few mins

- Add the chopped tomatoes and aubergine and mix well. Cook for a few minutes

- Add the paprika, rosemary and thyme leave

- Add the stock pot and boiling water

- Mix well and cook on a high heat until a lot of the water has evaporated. It should be moist but mot watery

- Transfer the lamb mixture to the oven proof dish

- Layer the potato and sweet potato slices on top of the lamb and sprinkle with a little olive oil and dry herbs

- Cover and cook for 40 minutes

- Remove the cover and increase the temperature to 200 degrees. Cool for a further 20 minutes