mum’s lamb curry pies

You will need at least 5 cups of left-over roast lamb for this recipe

Shred lamb and put to one side. Heat oil in a large heavy based casserole dish and cook onion, celery, curry powder, sea salt and pepper together over a medium heat for 12-15 minutes until the onion is softened but not coloured. Add apple, tomato paste, chutney, cream, sultanas and lamb and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for a further fifteen minutes until it is all heated through and blended and you are using all your will power not to eat it out of the pot. Put in the fridge to cool while you prepare the tin/s. You will need around  750g of ready rolled puff pastry sheets. Using either 6 individual cm pie tins, or one large  cm tin (or a combination of whatever you fancy) spray each of the tins with a little rice bran oil then line with pastry, squishing edges and overlaps together, and making sure there is a little overhang around the top edges. Spoon cooled mix into the tins, brush the edges with whisked egg, then cut out and top with pastry lids – with an equal extra bit to match up with the overhang (obviously putting the tins on the pastry and cutting around the outside with a little extra room is the best way to do this).  Squish overhang edges together, trim neatly(ish) and press with the tines of a fork or your thumb. Decorate as you wish (go wild, this is the fun bit) then refrigerate while oven pre-heats to 180˚C ( 370˚F ). When ready, cook for 35 minutes for smaller pies and 45 minutes for large. Serve with potato mash, a simple green salad and a big dollop of good quality chutney. Perfect for Sunday night in, or watching your favourite sport (so cliched for a Kiwi but for me it’s always rugby) or the season finale of Project Runway – go Sean Kelly! Serves 6