How to turn leftover roast lamb into a classic Irish pie

“Dingle pie is a good way to save lamb,” says the inspirational Irish chef JP McMahon. “Pies have a very rich history in the British Isles,” he says, and adds that every time you make a pie, you tap into that tradition. Dingle pies use leftover roast lamb (and its fat), making them both faster to make, and transforming scraps into a seriously satiating, traditional, hand-shaped pie.

Dingle pies

McMahon is a staunch advocate of Irish cuisine, both traditional and contemporary, and his The Irish Cook Book (Phaidon) is full of thrifty, home-cooked Irish recipes. His Dingle pies caught my eye as a great way to use up the leftovers from the Easter lamb roast, so I got in touch with JP to learn more about the zero-waste practices at his restaurant Aniar in Galway. He told me they always try to incorporate the whole vegetable into their cooking, and utilise pickling, preservation and fermentation to save food that would otherwise be wasted. Dingle pie, he says, is a really great way of turning one meal into a different one, using up all the leftover meat, fat and juices.

These pies are also proof that leftovers often save a lot of time, as well as money, because the filling takes all of 15 minutes to make. (That said, you could start with uncooked lamb: use the same weight of diced shoulder and simmer it in the juices for 90 minutes, or until the meat starts to fall apart.)

Save any lamb fat from the roasting pan, too, to sweat the onions in and to make the pastry with. Also, reserve any meat juices or leftover gravy, and use that to cook the pie filling.

There’s no need to use clingfilm when making pastry, incidentally. Instead, simply shape it, leave it in the bowl, cover with a plate and chill. I wanted to make JP’s iconic round pies, but didn’t have the right pastry cutters, so instead I used a plate and a jar that were about the right size to cut around. Just make sure one set of discs are about 3cm smaller than the other set.

Makes 4 pies

170g fat – lamb dripping and/or butter
1 small onion, peeled and diced
180g leftover roast or raw root vegetables (carrot, potato, parsnip), trimmed, peeled and diced
180g leftover roast lamb, shredded
300ml meat juices, gravy, stock or water
190g flour (I used wholemeal), plus 1 tbsp for the filling, and extra for dusting
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Milk, for glazing

Melt 30g of the fat in a saute pan, then sweat the onion, stirring often, for five minutes. Add the shredded lamb, the diced vegetables, the roasting juices, gravy, stock or water, and a tablespoon of flour, and stir to combine. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the liquid reduces to a very thick gravy, then take off the heat and leave to cool.

In a large bowl, rub the rest of the lamb dripping and/or butter into 180g flour mixed with the fine sea salt, until the fat is evenly distributed in small pieces. Mix in the egg and two tablespoons of cold water until it comes together into a dough, then shape into a ball, cover and chill for 30 minutes.

On a flour-dusted surface, roll out the pastry to 4mm thick, then cut out four 10cm discs and four 13cm discs, re-rolling the scraps as necessary. Top each small disc with a tall mound of lamb filling, leaving a 1cm rim all around the edge, then brush the exposed pastry with milk. Lay the large discs on the top of the filling, then seal the edges with a fork. Brush with more milk, then bake in a 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 oven for 35 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot.