Lancashire hotpot for a crowd. How? Or something else?

[flimp]

We've got about 40 people coming for a Christmas open day type thing and had planned a buffet, but I'm starting to think maybe we should have a hot option too? We've said folk can come 1pm-11pm, so I guess some people may need feeding twice.

Could I maybe cook the meat part of a Lancs hot pot then top with potatoes on the day? But if I do that, would the meat over cook? My freezer isn't wide enough to accommodate full oven trays ready made up.

Or should I make some pies?

I definitely want it to be trad British style, rather than curries or anything, but mainly I want to have as little faff as possible on the day so I can host properly.

please help me figure this out!

I made this last night for this evening.

Oops. Pressed send to soon! This -
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1940689/beef-and-vegetable-casserole-%3famp. It is so easy and tastes lovely. I was a bit dubious about not browning the meat but it is fine. You definitely need to do the last bit of cooking with the lid off.

That does look good. I wonder if I could cook and freeze in advance then top it with puff pastry when it goes back in the oven?

I don't see why not. You need to do the last stage of cooking with the lid off in the oven. It completely changes the flavour and I think is why you can get away with not browning the meat. I actually made it as DP's parents don't like much garlic. It is really tasty! Completely surprised me! I made this too which is bloody fantastic and so easy. I made double quantities of both but you could easily triple/quadruple.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9100/onepot-chicken-chasseur

Or you could do puff pastry lids? Little individual ones if people are coming in at various times. Or some boulangere potatoes. They are quite forgiving and can be made in advance.

Have you got a buffet server? They are a bit old fashioned but really good if you are feeding a large crowd. You can either keep your stew/casserole/whatever bubbling away in the kitchen and top up the trays or keep chilled in the fridge and heat and dish it up as you need to.

How about dumplings? More robust than pastry lids. Or really nice warm crusty bread