Recipe for family meals :

This recipe for Welsh Lamb Pie comes from Dyfed Lloyd Evans. Dyfed runs the Celtnet Recipes recipe site with recipes from all corners of the globe.

When people think of Wales the food is not what they immediately think of. Indeed, much of the traditional cookery of Wales is what might be called 'peasant food'. This is hardly surprising given Wales' history. After all the country has been rich in resources but poor in income for many centuries.

Industry dominated the country, whether predominantly agriculture in the North and heavy industry in the South. But everyone was working for someone else rather than themselves. The pennies had to be eked out and salaries were supplemented with small holdings that grew vegetables, pigs and chickens.

Each and every last drop of use was drawn from the food an frugality was the watchword. Thus the traditional food tends to be plain, simple and hearty. In many households this is what the staple fare is like, even today.

But as the country grew more affluent and developed a middle class some traditional recipes became entrenched but, in general, there was a move away from the traditional fare to something more exotic. Influences were brought home from across the globe and there was a tendency, even at home, to mix and match.

So that traditional ingredients were combined with exotic spices and ingredients to produce something new. A new Welsh cuisine that few people ever get to see.

Here I bring you a traditional Welsh dish.

Ingredients for Welsh Lamb Pie

675g neck of lamb
4 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 sprigs of parsley
250g prepared shortcrust pastry
salt and black pepper
beaten egg to glaze

How to make Welsh Lamb Pie

• Remove the meat from the lamb neck and chop the meat into small cubes.

• Add the bones to a pan along with the onion and whole parsley sprigs.

• Cover with water, season and boil for 90 minutes before straining the mixture and retaining the liquid

• Tip the pastry onto a floured surface and roll out. Use half to cover the base of a 1 litre pie dish.

• Add the carrots to the base and cover with the meat before adding the chopped parsley and seasonings.

• Wet the edge of the pastry with water and use the remaining pastry to cover - crimp the edges with a fork. Trim the excess then cut a steam hole in the centre of the pie (this should be large enough for you to insert a small funnel later).

• Place the pie in an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for about 100 minutes, or until the pie is cooked through and golden.

• When the pie is ready re-heat the stock and use a funnel to pour about 60 ml of this into the pie. Serve immediately.

Dyfed Lloyd Evans
www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes