Recipe of the day: Hearty braised lamb knuckles cottage pie

This lamb cottage pie has to be one of my best tasting dinners yet and the perfect dinner for those cold, wet days.

Braised lamb in a rich red-wine infused gravy topped with cheese-stuffed mash balls hits the spot when you are craving a hearty home-cooked meal or mum’s special casserole.

Lamb knuckles cottage pie

Ingredients

• Four to five medium soft-cooking potatoes peeled and chopped for mash
• Salted butter
• Dried herbs for the mash (your preference)
• 1kg lamb knuckles/stew pieces – knuckles work best because of the marrow bones
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic mix
• 1TBS steak and chops spice
• 1TBS barbaque spice
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp masala (optional)
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 cups of sweet dark red wine (Woolies Glühwein works best)
• 1 cube of mutton stock (mixed in a cup of warm water)
• 10 gr tomato paste
• salt to taste
• 3 level TBS cake flour
• 200 gr Chedder/Gouda cheese cut in cubes
• 1 cup Mozzerella cheese to top off
• cooking oil
• 4 sprigs of fresh tyme

Method

Mashed Potatoes

1. Boil the potatoes until soft and ready to mash.
2. Add salt, dried herbs, butter and mash until smooth. – Tip: substitute salt with garlic salt for extra flavour.
3. Cover and set aside.

Braised lamb knuckles

1. Bring the stove to medium heat.
2. Add just enough cooking oil to cover the surface of the pot (barely).
3. Add your dried spices and ginger-garlic mix (steak and chops/bbq/tumeric/white pepper/masala/sugar) and fry on medium heat for 2/3 minutes.
4. Add lamb pieces and fry for about 12/15 minutes. (you can adjust the stove tempreture for more heat).
5. Lower stove heat and remove lamb pieces, cover and set aside.
6. Add the diced onion to the same pot and fry until translucent (should take about 5 minutes).
7. Add a 2 TBS of butter.
8. Next, add the flour and stir with a whisk or wooden spoon until it starts to thicken.
9. Add the fried lamb and mix.
10. Pour in wine, mutton stock and stir.
11. Add tomato paste, stir until disolved.
12. Top with fresh time, close the pot and cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
13. You can add water if the gravy is too thick. Remember, this also has to go in the oven for 20 minutes.
14. Switch off the stove and let the lamb rest for about 10 minutes.
15. Start prepping the mash balls.

Cheese-stuffed mash balls

1. Preheat oven to 200º
2. Add 1 TBS of flour to the mash mix. This will allow the balls to stay firm without breaking in the oven.
3. Transfer the lamb to ta casserole dish
4. Scoop a heaped TBS of mash onto the palm of your hand, press a cheese cube in the middle and roll into a ball.
5. Cover the lamb with these cheese stuffed balls.
6. Top with mozzerella cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and serve.

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