Slow-cooked Irish stew
Serves 6
Easy
Prep:
Cook:
Middle neck or scrag end of lamb are flavoursome cuts and perfect for braising. This traditional casserole contains filling pearl barley, too
Skip to ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 200g smoked streaky baconpreferably in one piece, skinned and cut into chunks
- 900g cheap stewing lamblike middle neck or scrag (ask at your butcher counter), cut into large chunks
- small bunch thyme
- 3 onionsthickly sliced
- 5 carrotscut into big chunks
- 6 medium potatoescut into big chunks
- 700ml lamb stock
- 3 bay leaves
- 85g pearl barley
- 1 large leekwashed and cut into chunks
- small knob of butter
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal673
- fat39g
- saturates16g
- carbs40g
- sugars11g
- fibre7g
- protein40g
- salt1.4g
Method
step 1
Heat the slow cooker if necessary, then heat the oil in a frying pan. Sizzle the bacon until crisp, tip into the slow-cooker pot, then brown the chunks of lamb in the pan. Transfer to the slow-cooker pot along with the thyme, onions, carrots, potatoes, stock, bay leaves and enough water to cover the lamb. Cover and cook on Low for 7 hrs.
step 2
Stir in the pearl barley and leek, and cook on High for 1 hr more until the pearl barley is tender.
step 3
Stir in the butter, season and serve scooped straight from the dish.