Stew & Dumplings

Ingredients – Serves 2

½ tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

350g chunks of lamb or lean braising steak / 300g Quorn pieces

75ml red wine

1 tbsp plain flour

½ English mustard powder

½ can plum tomatoes

200ml vegetable stock

150g carrots, cut into batons

3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2.5 cm chunks

100g chestnut mushrooms, quartered or halved if large

50g green beans, halved

Note: This dish really needs the carrots and potatoes to give it its characteristic look and texture, but you can substitute something else for the green beans and mushrooms if required, e.g peas and sweetcorn

Method

Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan, which is basically just a pretentious name for a frying pan. Just use a large frying pan. 😊

Pre heat the oven to 190C / 170C fan / gas 5

Put a 2.25-litre casserole dish in the oven for 10 minutes or so to warm up

Tip the onions (and mushrooms if being used) into the pan with the olive oil and fry over a medium heat for about 8 mins, stirring often, until the onions are turning golden

Raise the heat, add the steak / Quorn and stir-fry briefly until browned

Pour in the wine, stir to deglaze the brown sticky bits from the bottom of the pan, and let it bubble for about 30 seconds

Lower the heat, sprinkle in the flour and mustard powder, and stir for 1 min. The meat / Quorn should now be coated in a thick, rich sauce

Mix in the tomatoes, stirring gently to break them down – you will find that there will be less liquid in the Quorn pan, so compensate for this by either adding more tinned tomatoes or adding a splash of cold water

Stir in the vegetable stock and bring the mixture to the boil

Once boiling, transfer the mixture to the warmed-up casserole dish

Tip in the carrots, potatoes and other vegetables and stir everything gently together

The mustard powder and onions should provide sufficient seasoning that no extra salt or pepper is needed, but you could always have a taste of the gravy to see if you think it needs anything extra

Cover the casserole dish with a lid and put it in the oven for 1 hr 30 mins

Meanwhile, make up the dumpling mix and roll into 8 equal sized balls

Remove the lid from the casserole dish, sit the dumplings on top and push them down to submerge very slightly in the gravy

Return the uncovered casserole dish to the oven and cook for a further 20 – 30 minutes until the dumplings have risen and are golden on top

Garnish with a light scattering of thyme leaves and serve immediately