I make my own variation of hotpot - more like meat and potato pie. I use lentils and pearl barley (boiled to softness) as well as potatoes and carrots (diced) and I prefer leeks to onions. I usually use neck of lamb, sliced and browned in a little oil, and a stock cube, salt and black pepper and a teaspoonful of mixed herbs. It works equally well with the left-overs from a lamb joint - the bone of which should also be added (but removed before eating, of course). I either put the lot in the slow cooker for about 6 hours or it can be done on the hob for 2 or 3 hours but you need a very heavy-bottomed pan.
To finish I either add more liquid (stock) if it's cooking in a pan and drop in a few suet dumplings, which cook in 20 minutes, or I put it in a casserole dish and make a suet pastry crust and put it in the oven til the pastry's golden brown. It's not the traditional Lancashire Hotpot but it's very tasty and it fills you up.
