Roast Lamb & Rosemary Pie by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diaries

This Roast Lamb & Rosemary Pie recipe from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diaries includes a homemade pastry recipe that was her Grandmother’s. The pastry is lovely and rich as it’s full of lard and a touch of brown sugar. Her mother used this pastry recipe to make meat pies out of left over roast beef. To read Elizabeth’s full story behind this pastry click on the link below.

Kids in the Kitchen

Fresh Rosemary – If you have Rosemary in the garden, go on an adventure to find it with your kids. You can incorporate the ‘Going on a Bear Hunt’ song but change up the lyrics to ‘Going on a Rosemary Hunt’. In addition to this, pick more than you need and let the children play with it in a washing up bowl or with toy animals creating a lovely scented woodland scene.

Pastry Playdough – Pastry can be used similarly to playdough by making a big ball and pushing all the air out (kneading). Your kids might be finding it hard not being able to get outside as much so encourage them to get their energy out by pushing or banging the pastry.

Cookie Cutter Fun – You can try and recreate Elizabeth’s beautiful flowers and leaves on the top of her pie or be creative and use any cookie cutters you have to create your own design. More inspiration here.

Egg Wash – One of the last steps of this pie is to use a pastry brush to paint the pastry with an egg or milk wash. This will help the crust to have a beautiful shine and colour and keep the edges together when baking. This is the perfect opportunity for your little one to practice their painting skills, which will also be good for their fine motor development too.

Recipe Courtesy of Elizabeth Kitchen Diaries 

Serves: 12

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 30

Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

• 20cm Stainless Steel Saucepan

Ingredients

Elizabeth’s Grandmother’s Pastry

• 5 cups/750 g plain flour
• 4 tsp/25 g dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lb/450 g lard
• 4 tsp/25 ml vinegar
• 1 large free range egg
• Water

Roast Lamb and Rosemary Pie Filling

• 4 cups/600 g leftover roast lamb finely diced
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
• 1 and 1/4 cups/300 ml leftover lamb gravy
• Sea salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Egg wash to glaze

Cooking Method

How to make my grandmother’s pastry recipe

1. Measure the flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
2. Rub in the lard with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Add the vinegar and egg to a mixing jug and whisk briefly. Top up with cold water to measure 225 ml.
4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and combine well.
5. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead briefly, until smooth. You might need to add a little more flour, or a few drops more of water to make a soft, yet firm, dough.
6. Cut the dough in half and form into discs.
7. Wrap each disc in cling film and chill until needed.

To make the roast lamb & rosemary pie filling

1. Finely chop the lamb and add to a mixing bowl.
2. Add the onion, carrot and chopped rosemary.
3. Pour in the gravy and stir to combine thoroughly.
4. Season well to taste.

To assemble

1. Preheat oven to 220 C/ 200 C fan.
2. Roll out one disc of pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
3. Line the base of a deep 9 inch pie plate with the pastry and use the tines of a fork to poke holes in the dough.
4. Add the pie filling, smoothing over the top with a spoon.
5. Roll out the second disc of pastry and use to top the pie, sealing the edges with a little water.
6. Decorate as desired, brush with an egg wash or a little milk and bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes.