Mediterranean Lamb Pie is richly flavoured with olives, chorizo, oregano and red pesto. Serve nestled in crisp golden pastry or under creamy mash. Either way, this pie is delicious.
For a person who hankers after pastry as much as I do, this Mediterranean Lamb Pie has been a long time coming to LittleSugarSnaps. It’s been in my arsenal of family favourites for around 5 years, so I don’t really have any justifiable excuses.
But the good news is that this pie is ready for you today and I have instructions for 2 ways to serve it. Choose between crisp & golden shortcrust pastry or an equally comforting potato topped version. The choice is yours.
And if you like the look of this pie I think you’ll also enjoy my classic minced beef and onion pie.
Obviously, being the pastry fiend that I am, I would always pick the shortcrust option – that’s a proper pie in my view. However, one of my daughters strongly favours the potato version. Honestly, both are excellent choices and come loaded with the same flavour-packed lamb filling fuelled with:
- chorizo
- olives
- oregano
- sundried tomato pesto
There are also some juicy veggies nestled amongst these goodies, just to bulk things out, add an extra element to the flavour and give a nutritional boost.
Confession: I don’t have any story to tell you about my Mediterranean Lamb Pie. It’s been in my Red Book (a leather notebook for recipes that my Husband bought for me on our 3rd wedding anniversary) for such a long time that I can’t recall how I came up with it. It is a plain and simple family favourite without any baggage.
What I can tell you are my favourite ways to serve this pie. If it’s the dead of winter, then I go for heaps of lightly buttered green vegetables. But in the summer, a bountiful side salad is the order of the day – perhaps with a red pesto dressing.
And my one tip when making these pies is to source your lamb carefully – get the leanest you can lay your hands on. Lamb is generally fatty meat, and too much free-flowing fat in the dish will ruin an otherwise splendid pie. My local butcher serves up exceptional minced lamb at the moment. I would put the fat content at less than 10% and that means that for the first time ever, I do not typically need to spoon off the unhealthy fat that would make this pie unpleasantly greasy. If you struggle to get lean lamb, do take the time to remove the excess fat. Your pie and your taste buds will thank you for it.
As I’m sitting here typing, I’m recalling my obsessive pastry addiction whilst expecting my older daughter – sausage rolls and Cornish pasties featured heavily for a good 2 months. I was a woman possessed. Whenever I make pastry these days, I think back to that happy time. Now, I’m wondering if I could turn out some Mediterranean Lamb Pasties – you know, purely for lunchtime convenience. Race you to them….
Recipe
Mediterranean Lamb Pie
Ingredients
Makes enough to fill a 20cm pie dish
For the Mediterranean Lamb
- 500 g/ 17 ½ oz Lean minced (ground) lamb mine was <10% fat
- 75 g/ 3 oz Cooking chorizo
- 2 Shallots
- 1 Celery stalk
- 1 Leek (medium)
- 1 Garlic clove
- 1 Red pepper (medium)
- 15 Green Olives (de-stoned)
- 2 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 200 g/ 7 oz Tinned tomatoes (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Red pesto
- Salt & pepper – to taste
For the Shortcrust Pastry
- 350 g/ 12oz Plain (all purpose) flour
- 175 g/ 6oz Butter – unsalted, cold
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 120 ml/ ½ cup Water – ice cold
For the Alternative Potato Topping
- 1 kg/ 2 lb 3 oz Potatoes (suitable for mashing)
- 30 g/ 1oz Butter
- Milk
- Salt & Pepper – to taste
- 2 tablespoon Breadcrumbs
Instructions
For the Mediterranean Lamb
- Finely chop the shallot, celery and leek and fry in 2 tablespoon oil until beginning to soften. Mince the garlic, add to the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan
- Add the lamb to the hot pan and cook, stirring frequently, until browned.
- Dice the chorizo, add to the lamb and cook for 3 minutes. Drain off any excess fat from the pan
- Return the vegetables to the pan, along with the red pepper (chopped small), the green olives (quartered) and the oregano, cook for 5 minutes
- Pour in the tomatoes and let everything bubble away for 10-15 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated
- Stir the red pesto through the mixture, season to taste and set aside to cool completely (spoon off any pools of oil as they form (or use a piece of kitchen towel to absorb it)
For the Shortcrust Pastry
- Put the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir briefly
- Cube the butter and add to the bowl. Rub the butter into the flour, using the tips of your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs and all large chunks of butter have been broken down
- Add half the water and stir with a blunt knife, until the dough just comes together – add more water, little by little, as necessary. Aim for a soft, but not sticky dough
- Tip onto a lightly floured work surface, knead very briefly, form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes
Assembling the Pastry Pie
- Preheat (fan) oven to 180C/ 350F/ GM4
- When the meat is completely cool, take the pastry out of the fridge and chop in half (with one ‘half’ being slightly larger than the other ‘half’)
- Roll the pastry out on a floured work surface to 2-3mm thick and use to line the pie tin. Brush the edges with a little beaten egg
- Pile the lamb filling into the pastry case
- Roll out the remaining pastry and use to top the pie. Press the edge of the pastry to seal the pie and trim the excess pastry with a blunt knife. Use a sharp knife to make slash lines around the edge of the pie for decoration (see images) or, if you are feeling fancy, re-roll any off-cuts of pastry and use to decorate the pie (e.g. leaves, lettering etc…)
- Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg, make a slit in the centre of the pie to allow steam to escape and bake for around 40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden
Assembling the Potato Pie
- Preheat (fan) oven to 180C/ 350F/ GM4
- Peel and boil the potatoes in salted water, then mash until smooth, adding the butter and sufficient milk to create a soft & creamy consistency. Season to taste
- Divide the lamb between 4 individual pie dishes and top with the potato (pipe it on for a neat finish). Alternatively, use a 20 cm circular pie dish.
- Scatter a few breadcrumbs over the potato and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden
Nickki
Wow, this pie looks and sounds really delicious. I love lamb!
Jane Saunders
Thanks Nikki – it really is a good one.
Cat | Curly's Cooking
This looks so delicious and comforting. I’d go for the pie though because your pastry looks so tasty!
Jane Saunders
I approve of your pie choice whole-heartedly 😉
Esha
This lamb pie looks so mouthwatering Jane. Love all the flavors in here.
Jane Saunders
Thanks so much Esha!
Jane Saunders
You’d better get baking then, Corina – you’ll love it!
Corina Blum
I love pies made with shortcrust pastry too and I am also a huge fan of chorizo so the flavours in this pie are perfect for me!