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Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie

Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie. The flavours of Greek souvlaki meet a British lamb and mushroom pie in this flavourful collision of cuisines.

Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie in a single serving white ceramic dish

Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie

Several years ago while on vacation in the Boston area, I ordered a beef pot pie from a gastro pub menu. It came out with a disk of separately baked pastry atop what was basically a beef stew.

I immediately liked the idea that there was no potentially “soggy bottom” pastry in the “pie”. The pastry disk seemed extra thick to compensate for the bottom pastry. It was very satisfying indeed.

Boneless leg of lamb

Boneless leg of lamb or lamb shoulder is easily diced for this recipe.

I’ve used that idea several times since, especially when entertaining dinner guests. They all seem to love the idea and it does make for a nice presentation too.

It’s a widely held opinion that slowly braised stews of any kind are just as good or not better the day after. This idea makes perfect sense for planning a meal in advance too.

All you have to do on the day is warm up the stew and bake the fresh, flaky, crisp pastry to top off the individual servings.

If you have leftover stew of any kind, this is also an excellent way of stretching it into an interesting second meal.

A supermarket sale and another recipe for inspiration

This time I decided to use the idea on a simple braised lamb dish. Naturally, it was inspired partly by another comfort food classic in our family, Braised Beef Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping.

Braised Beef Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping photo with title text for Pinterest

This time boneless leg of lamb was on sale at the market and I always think Greek food when I think lamb. So the idea occurred to me to add some of the flavour elements of Greek souvlaki to this modernized version of a pot pie.

With some simple steamed vegetables on the side, it made for a flavourful comfort food dinner that absolutely everyone enjoyed.

The recipe also includes instructions for baking a single sheet of pastry directly on top of the braised lamb and mushrooms too. This also makes for a slightly less time consuming and very homey presentation too.

Like this Braised Lamb recipe?

 
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Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie photo with title text for Pinterest

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Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie in a single serving white ceramic dish
Yield: 8 servings

Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Souvlaki Braised Lamb Pie - the flavours of Greek souvlaki meet a British lamb and mushroom pie in this flavorful collision of cuisines.

Ingredients

For the braised Lamb with Mushrooms

  • 3 lbs boneless leg of lamb or lamb shoulder , cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
  • salt and pepper to season
  • ½ cup flour to dredge the lamb cubes
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups button or crimini mushrooms cut in quarters
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 4 cups low sodium lamb stock, or veal/beef
  • 1 cup red wine, or additional stock if you prefer
  • 1 1/2 cups pureed canned tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 leaves bay

For the pastry

  • 1/2 cup very cold butter cut into small cubes
  • 1/2 cup very cold vegetable shortening, cut into small cubes
  • 2 ½ cups flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1/4 - 1/3 cup ice water, Only enough to make a dough form.

Instructions

To prepare the braised lamb with mushrooms

  1. Trim the lamb roast of excess fat then cut it into 1½ inch cubes.
  2. Season the cubes with salt and pepper, then roll them in plain flour to coat them well.
  3. In a cast iron skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat and brown the lamb cubes well in small batches. Do not crowd the pan with the lamb or it will be harder to brown and be drier when cooked.
  4. Transfer the browned lamb to a covered roasting pan or dutch oven.
  5. Melt the butter in saute pan over medium heat and saute the mushrooms until lightly browned. Add the onions and garlic. Saute over medium heat until the onions have softened but not browned, then add the mushrooms, garlic and onions to the roasting pan with the lamb.
  6. Add the lamb stock, red wine, pureed tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, oregano, thyme, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
  7. Stir and cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil before adding the lid.
  8. Cook in a 300 degree oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the lamb is fall apart tender and the gravy is slightly thickened.
  9. Remove the bay leaves.
  10. There are two ways to approach the pastry for this lamb pie; either as a single sheet over the entire pie or as pre-baked sections of pastry to top individual serving dishes. If using the single top sheet of pastry method, I like to transfer the braised lamb and sauce to a large baking pan like a 9x13, to increase the surface area for the pastry.

To prepare the pastry

  1. Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter and shortening into the flour and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible.
  2. Pour cold water over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible. Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes.
  3. You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out.
  4. If using the dough on a single large baking dish just roll one of pieces of dough out to approximately a half inch larger than the dish on all sides. (The second piece of dough can be frozen to use later.)
  5. Egg wash the edges of the baking dish with a little beaten egg to help the pastry stick. Cut a few slits in the top of the pastry to let steam escape and brush the egg wash onto the top of the pastry. Return to a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is evenly golden brown.
  6. To make pastry toppers for individual serving dishes instead, I roll out the dough a bit thicker than I would for a pie crust and cut the shapes just a little smaller than the tops of the serving dishes. I like to cut them a little smaller so that you can see what lies beneath that golden crust.
  7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place the pieces of pastry onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
  8. Brush with an egg wash of 1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp water. (You don't use all the eggwash, a thin coat is enough'; it just aids the browning of the pastry and isn't completely necessary.)
  9. Bake for 15- 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve on top of the individual serving dishes that have been filled with the braised lamb and mushrooms.

Notes

This recipe can also be ddapted to use beef or pork.

Recommended Products

Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

8 servings

Amount Per Serving Calories 776Saturated Fat 22gCholesterol 156mgSodium 658mgCarbohydrates 43gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 43g

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Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.

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