Lamb stew with dumplings makes a wonderful meal any time of year and is especially good as a warming comfort food in winter, as it is a satisfying meal in spring. For the best flavour choose quality lamb and the freshest of organically grown herbs and slow cook till the meat is tender and delicious. The herb dumplings are easy to make, cooked on top of the lamb stew in your favourite casserole dish or Dutch Oven.

Country Lamb Stew with Herb Dumplings

Ingredients:

Lamb Stew:

• 500 g lamb leg steak, cut into pieces
• 1 large stick of celery, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 1 small knob of butter
• 2 1/4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 heaped Tblsp of tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• Worcestershire sauce
• 4 large cloves of garlic with skins on
• 2 bay leaves
• small bunch of parsley
• 1 large spring of rosemary
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

 Dumplings:

• I cup of fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 cup of Self Raising flour
• 2 Tblsp each of chives, thyme, and sage finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 65 g suet or cold butter
• 1/2 cup of milk
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat Oven to 150ºC F
2. Use a Dutch oven or a deep baking or cassarole dish
3. Season lamb pieces with salt and freshly ground black pepper, turn and season on the other side. Leave to stand for a minute
4. In a dutch oven put olive oil and the knob of butter and on a high heat sear the lamb on all sides till browned. Remove the meat to a plate and rest covered
5. Lower the heat to medium low and add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pan juices and cook covered for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally
6. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute
7. Stir in wine and bring to the boil, lower the heat to medium and then reduce for 5 minutes with the lid off
8. Add the stock, rosemary and garlic with the skins on and stir.
9. Add two or three good  dashes of Worcestershire sauce, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil
10. Place the meat and juices into Dutch Oven or baking dish and pour over the vegetable sauce, making sure the meat is well covered.
11. Tie the parsley and bay leaves with cooking twine and lower into the sauce
12. Cover with the lid or tightly with foil if using a baking dish and bake for 1 hour
13. Then turn the meat and bake for a further 2 1/4 hours
14. Then make the dumplings
15. Sift the flour
16. Rub the butter or suet into the flour
17. Mix together the breadcrumbs, Self Raising flour mix , chopped herbs
18. Season mix with salt and pepper
19. Whisk the egg and milk together then quickly incorporate into the dry mix to form a ball of dough
20. Gently remove to a floured wooden board and dust with a little extra flour if tacky, bringing the dough together without overworking it
21. Divide the dough into golfball sized balls

    

22. Place the balls of dough onto the stew, cover with the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes.

    

23. The dumplings should be doubled in size when cooked
24. Remove from the oven and take out the parsley and bay leaves and set aside to rest for 10 minutes before serving

A hearty plate of lamb stew and dumplings is perfect for any meal.

Growing your ingredients:

Growing Carrots

 

 

 

Growing Onions

 

 

Growing Garlic