The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 plus 3 letter word SHEPHERDS PIE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
S
H
E
P
H
E
R
D
S
P
I
E
More clues leading to the result SHEPHERDS PIE
- Watch over most of scouts making a traditional dish
- Traditional food dishes here, 2p off
- Woman perished at sea having eaten soft food
- Watch over a lot of agents getting hot dish
- Prep dishes he’s cooking for meal
- One with crook viewed endless food
- Prep dishes? He transformed this dish
- Her dish — Peep’s — potentially?
- Cooked alternative to ploughman’s lunch?
- One helped by crook views almost meaty dish
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "hot dish" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case hot dish = shepherds pie.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.