Vegetarian Lancashire hotpot
Packed with goodness, tasty vegetables and layered slices of potato, this hotpot is easy on the wallet too. This is designed to be a low cost recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- ½ swede (about 350g/12oz), peeled and chopped
- 200g/7oz parsnips, peeled and chopped
- 25g/1oz plain flour
- 750ml/1⅓ pint–1 litre/1¾ pints vegetable stock, made from stock cubes
- 4 tbsp pearl barley
- 3 sprigs thyme, leaves only
- 900g/2lb potatoes, peeled and sliced into 2mm slices
- 25g/1oz butter
- salt and black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Heat a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the oil and, once hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook the onions for 4-5 minutes, or until softened. Add the carrots, swede and parsnip, plus another pinch of salt. Cover with a lid on and gently fry for 10 minutes, or until softened a little.
Remove the lid, sprinkle in the flour and stir around to coat the vegetables and soak up any cooking juices. Add the stock, pearl barley and thyme and stir to mix well. Simmer for 15-20 minutes to soften the veg. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, heat a large pan of water and cook the sliced potato in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to soften slightly. Drain and then put them into cold water to cool them and make them easier to handle.
Pour the vegetable mix into a large, shallow ovenproof dish. Arrange the potato slices over the top of the vegetables, seasoning between layers with salt and pepper to taste and finishing with a neat layer of slices. Dot over the butter and finish with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place into the preheated oven and cook for 45-50 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the potatoes are golden-brown on top.
Recipe Tips
Most box graters have a vegetable slicer option which will make thinly slicing the potatoes easier. However, if you can't get them thin enough simply cook the potato slices for a little longer in step 4.
In September 2023 this recipe was costed at an average of £3.87 when checking prices at three UK supermarkets. This recipe is designed to be made in conjunction with a low-cost store-cupboard, for more details click here to see how our budget recipes were costed.