lamb and vegetable pie

With Saint Patrick’s day coming up, I thought I’d post an Irish recipe. But I’m totally embarrassed to say that this is only one of two Irish recipes that I make. Andddddd I’m not even sure about how Irish this one really is. The filling is stewed in Guinness…. is that what classifies it as Irish? Either way, this pie is a family favourite!

Though it didn’t always look like this. When I met my husband, he use to make this pie with mostly lamb and potatoes. Over the years, I’ve added more and more vegetables to the mix; I’m finally satisfied. 🙂  I also replaced his go-to pastry (aka puff pastry) with my usual go-to pastry recipe inspired by Brown Eyed Baker. But for this savoury pie, I’ve  incorporated some thyme and pepper into the pastry as well.

Also, I usually just make one large pie but I made mini versions here, thinking that smaller ones would make for better photos. What was I thinking? As soon as the pies were out of the oven, my hungry caterpillars proclaimed it to be dinnertime! …so not many photos to show you how delicious these are. But delicious they are; you will have to take my word for it!

Lamb and Vegetable Pie

(serves 8)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250 g onion, diced
• 5-7 g garlic, minced
• 225 g potato, diced
• 125 g carrot, diced
• 125 g celery, diced
• 100 g turnip, diced
• 100 g fennel, diced
• 100 g parsnip, diced
• 100 g green cabbage, shredded
• 1 lb or 450 g lean ground lamb
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup Guinness
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper or to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet and saute onions over medium heat until soft.
2. Mix in garlic and continue to cook for 1 minute.
3. Mix in potato, carrot, celery, turnip, fennel, parsnip and green cabbage.
4. Cook vegetables until they are softened, about 10-15 minutes over low-medium heat. Stir occasionally to make sure they all cook evenly.
5. In another skillet, cook the ground lamb over medium heat until all the meat is browned completely and no longer pink. Stir for even cooking and break up clumps to have an even texture.
6. Spoon the cooked lamb leaving behind the liquid and add to the vegetables. The cooking liquid is to be discarded.
7. Add tomato paste, water, Guinness, salt and thyme.
8. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and continue to cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated.
9. Stir in pepper and allow to cool in the fridge.
10. In the meantime, make the pastry.

Thyme and Black Pepper Pastry (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

(yields a 9 inch pie, serves roughly 8 people)

• 170 g (1 1/4 cup) white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 113 g (1/2 cup) cold butter, cubed
• 66 g (1/4 cup) yogurt
• 1/4 cup ice cold water

1. Mix flour, salt, thyme, and pepper.
2. Using your finger tips, blend in butter until you get a coarse, crumbly texture.
3. Stir in yogurt.
4. Start by adding 3 tbsp of ice cold water and mix to form a dough. Add more water, a tsp at a time, only as required to get a soft dough. Form into 2 balls.  Place, covered, in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400°F.
6. Roll out one ball on a floured surface to about 11-12 inches in diameter. Slide your hands under the dough, lift and gently place over the pie plate. Using your fingers, gently press the dough onto the surface of the plate (do not squish). Trim the overhanging edges with a knife.
7. Scrape the filling into the pie shell. Using the back of a spoon, gently push down  on the filling, slightly mounded in the center.
8. Roll out the second ball, 10-11 inches in diameter and place over the filling.
9. Press along the edges with your fingers and trim any overhang.
10. Bake in the center of the oven for a total of  30-40 minutes, until a meat thermometer placed at the center of the pie registers 170°F or 77°C. If the top is browning too much during the baking, loosely tent aluminum foil over the pie. Do this before it browns too much since the foil should be removed for the last 5 minutes of baking to allow any moisture on the pastry to evaporate.

Note: To make mini pies, you will need to make double the pastry recipe for this amount of filling. I was able to make eight 4.5 inch mini pies.