LAMB AND POTATO PIE

- Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas6

- Season the lamb; heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and cook the meat on both sides until well browned; lift it out and put to one side

- grease the casserole dish with half the butter and lay a third of the potatoes in it; scatter half the onions over the potatoes, season well with salt, but lightly with pepper, and tuck the bay leaves in; cover with a further third of the potatoes then lay the browned lamb over these

- put the rest of the onions around the meat in the gaps at the edge of the dish; take the final third of the sliced potatoes and arrange them around the edge of the dish, generously overlapping them, so that most of the lamb remains in view; spoon the stock over the meat and potatoes and dot the potatoes with the remaining butter

- cover tightly with foil and place on the middle rack of the preheated oven; bake for 45 minutes, then remove the foil, reduce the heat to 150C/Gas2 and cook for 45 minutes or so more, until the potatoes are lightly coloured and the meat is tender