Mini Lamb Keema Pasties

We've been eating quite a bit of Indian food recently, but one dish I've never tried making is Keema. To be honest, the only time I've heard of Keema is in a Keema Naan, as it's the husband's favourite naan bread. Keema is a dish made from minced lamb, which is cooked using different spices, with peas added towards the end of cooking. I've teamed up with Simply Beef & Lamb to show you how easy it is to cook, and share my recipe for serving it to my family.

I decided to cook up a double batch of Keema and use some of it for these tasty mini pasties, and put the rest in the freezer ready for a quick pasta dinner another day. My recipe for the Keema has been adapted slightly from the original recipe that can be found here. I chose not to add any fresh chillies as I felt it was spicy enough for the family as it was.

You could use puff or shortcrust pastry for these, but I opted to use my favourite cream cheese pastry, as it's not only really easy to make and roll out, but it's also really light and flaky. The pasties can be eaten as part of a main meal, or as a lunch or snack - or even taken in the school lunchbox.

Mini Lamb Keema Pasties - makes approx 15

Lamb Keema

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled & chopped

1 tsp garlic & ginger paste

2 tsp ground cumin

3 tbsp garam masala

450g lean lamb mince

4 tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

100g frozen peas

Pastry

250g plain flour

150g butter

150g full fat cream cheese

1 egg, beaten

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan
• Add the onion and fry for approx 10 minutes
• Add the garlic & ginger, cumin & garam masala and cook for 1-2 minutes
• Add the lamb and fry until mostly browned
• Add the tomatoes and puree
• Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and cook uncovered for approx 20-25 minutes, adding the peas for the last 5 minutes of cooking 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer add the flour, butter and cream cheese
• Mix on a low speed until it becomes like breadcrumbs and then starts to come together
• Squeeze together into a ball and wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for around 30 minutes
• Roll the pastry out to approx 5mm thick and cut circles with a large round cutter or cut around a glass
• Brush beaten egg onto one half of the pastry disc and then a spoonful of Keema onto the other
• Fold one half of the pastry over the filling and press the edges together, and then crimp
• Lay the pasties onto a lined baking sheet and brush with beaten egg
• Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and crispy

Serve with a light salad of sliced cucumber, sliced red onion and a dash of tamarind paste, along with a spoonful of yogurt

I was provided with ingredients to make the Keema

Minced Lamb & Ale Hotpot

Wow, what's happened to the weather recently? Suddenly it feels like we've been transported into full blown winter, and the heating has started coming on in the morning despite the thermostat being set very low.

It's definitely time for soups and stews now so I decided to christen my new casserole dish with a warming minced lamb hotpot, using a few products provided by Unilever.

Minced Lamb & Ale Hotpot

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
Knorr beef stock cube
Knorr Paprika pot
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
500g minced lamb
2 tbsp plain flour
350ml Ale
4 potatoes
2 parsnips
2 tbsp Flora Buttery, melted
salt & pepper

• Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish
• Add the onion and fry for 3-4 minutes, until softened
• Add the stock cube, paprika pot and garlic
• Mix well and fry for 1 minute
• Add the mince and fry until browned
• Add the flour and fry for a further minute whilst stirring all the time
• Add the ale and bring to the boil
• Simmer whilst preparing the potatoes and parsnips
• Slice the potatoes and parsnips about 1/2cm thick - no need to peel them
• Lay slices of potato and parsnip onto the mince and brush with melted butter & season with salt & pepper
• Place a lid on and bake in a 170C oven for 45 minutes
• Remove the lid and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are lightly browned

Serve with crispy baked Kale.

I was provided with a hamper of Unilever ingredients for use in this recipe